The maverick changes his tactic

Howard Fineman • E-mail

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - In a sense, Sen. John McCain’s campaign for the presidency in 2008 began with a personal, private phone call he made last week -- to President George W. Bush.

A good source told me about it here the other day, in a quiet moment at the Southern Republicans’ conference at the Peabody Hotel, and McCain himself confirmed it at a reception hosted by Mississippi Republicans at one of the noisiest places in town, BB King’s restaurant.

Private though it was, the McCain call was emblematic of the ‘08 strategy that he and his circle have decided to pursue. They want to build out their campaign with members of the Bush circle, and base McCain’s pitch on the notion that he is the only sensible, electable and competent commander who can take control of the war on terror.

“Competence and electability,” that’s what we’re going to talk about,” said a key advisor. “If you support the president’s vision, John can carry it forward.”

The road less traveled
Known as an outsider and maverick, McCain in 2008 has chosen a different route -- and probably had no choice, given his prominence and experience. He and his aides are making the best they can of it, and one aspect of doing so involves trying to reel in Bush’s top operatives and supporters.

Here in Memphis, McCainanites worked closely on straw poll strategy with Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a Bush loyalist widely regarded as one of the sharpest strategic and organizational minds in the party. They are wooing him to come aboard officially, which would be a major coup for McCain.

Word around the Peabody lobby is that another former GOP chairman, Richard Bond, is part of an unofficial circle of counselors, too.

So what was the Bush call about? According to McCain, he simply wanted to offer friendship during the furor over the now-defunct Dubai Ports deal. Even though President Bush remains popular with most hard-core Republicans, his overall poll numbers are about as low as you can go -- flirting with territory once occupied by Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon.

As McCain explained it, you get no credit for standing with a popular ally; the test of friendship is to be at his side when he’s down. So the call was meant as a personal pick-me-up. “I wanted to tell him that I was with him, and supported him, and that the polls weren’t a test of whether he was doing the right thing, which I think he is.”

All of which would be fine, even touching, were there not also a series of political and tactical motives.

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