Why did Senator John McCain claim he wouldn’t filibuster Chuck Hagel, then go ahead and do so anyway? Because Chuck Hagel hurt his feelings over five years ago.
McCAIN: But to be honest with you, Neil, it goes back to there’s a lot of ill will towards Senator Hagel because when he was a Republican, he attacked President Bush mercilessly and say he was the worst President since Herbert Hoover and said the surge was the worst blunder since the Vietnam War, which was nonsense. He was anti-his own party and people — people don’t forget that. You can disagree but if you’re disagreeable, then people don’t forget that.
Long-in-the-tooth Republicans like McCain may never get over the fact that the Bush Administration and everything it entailed was an awesome failure. They can’t acknowledge it, they can’t accept it, and they can’t move past it.