In the 2004 U.S. presidential election, McCain was once again frequently mentioned for the vice-presidential slot, only this time as part of the "Democratic" ticket underneath nominee John Kerry. Kerry and McCain had been close since their work on the early 1990s &lt;a href="Senate%20Select%20Committee%20on%20POW/MIA%20Affairs"&gt;Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs&lt;/a&gt;, and the pairing was seen as having great allure to independent voters, with polls seeming to confirm the notion. McCain had seemed open such a possibility in a March 2004 interview, only to have his staff reject it hours later. In June 2004, it was reported that Kerry had informally offered the slot to McCain several times, but McCain had declined, either on grounds that it would be infeasible and weaken the presidency or that the vice-presidency held no appeal for him or that he thought Bush was a better president than Kerry would be. McCain's office formally denied that any vice-presidential offer had taken place. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, McCain enthusiastically supported Bush for re-election, praising Bush's management of the War on Terror since the September 11 attacks. At the same time,