Surging McCain Campaign Baffles Senate Colleagues

John McCain fever may be sweeping much of the country, but it has not infected the one place Republicans know him best: the United States Senate.

To the contrary, many GOP colleagues of the Arizona senator are slack-jawed in disbelief at his surging political strength in the GOP presidential race. And many view his anti-establishment, reformist crusade with forehead-slapping incredulity.

“The idea that John McCain is an outsider . . . “ fumed Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.). “He’s been here 17 years. He’s chairman of the Commerce Committee. He milks the very system he criticizes.”

Hutchinson is one of 44 Senate Republicans who are shunning McCain and supporting Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president. In the aftermath of McCain’s blowout victory in the New Hampshire primary last week, Hutchinson and several other Senate Republicans have been hitting the campaign trail in South Carolina for Bush, giving voters their version of the McCain they know.

McCain’s small but hearty band of Senate supporters--a mere four--see the stampede to help Bush as validation for a candidate running as the anti-pol. And McCain’s defenders say the very qualities that make him a controversial figure in the Senate--a polarizing personality many people either love or hate--is a perfect foil to the more even-keel Bush persona.

“John evokes strong emotions,” acknowledges Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), one of his backers. “But it works to his advantage in this campaign because Gov. Bush hasn’t been as effective in evoking strong emotions.”

That just adds insult to injury for baffled Bush supporters, who see McCain’s anti-establishment crusade as, in essence, a campaign against them. “It’s ingenious how he has turned the support of his colleagues for Gov. Bush into a political plus for him,” said Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).

McCain’s rocky relationship with fellow Senate Republicans has its roots that extend far beyond the presidential campaign and deep into personal and policy conflicts of the past.

Tobacco Tax Hike Support Criticized

McCain’s legislative record is mostly that of an orthodox conservative, but his GOP colleagues have bridled at his departure from the party line on a few high-profile issues. One was his strong support for raising tobacco taxes that was part of an unsuccessful 1998 bill cracking down on cigarette smoking.

“It’s just not in the nature of one of our [party] to embrace the second-largest tax increase in history,” said Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.), who is spearheading Bush’s campaign among Senate Republicans.

McCain also has rankled colleagues with his attacks on pork-barrel spending, a crusade he has taken into cyberspace by itemizing on his Web site pet projects promoted by other lawmakers.

But nothing has fried fellow Republicans quite like McCain’s effort to overhaul the campaign finance system, an effort they consider not just wrongheaded and harmful to their party but sanctimonious and hypocritical on his part. That’s because, while McCain denounces special interest contributions, he accepts donations from many of the interests that have business before the Senate Commerce Committee that he chairs.

“He is as much an insider in Washington as anybody, more so than most,” fumed Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), who passed over McCain to endorse Bush after dropping his own bid for president. “Here’s a man who is running a campaign against the special interests and getting every dime he can from special interests so he can get elected president.”

The level of personal animosity sparked by McCain’s aggressive push for campaign finance reform was laid bare when last year’s debate on his bill was conducted with a level of personal vitriol rarely seen in the decorous Senate.

Responding to McCain’s claims that the campaign system is corrupt, fellow Republicans angrily demanded that he produce specific charges against particular senators. “How can there be corruption if no one is corrupt?” demanded Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Following the heated words, the Senate sidetracked the legislation.

Colleagues also chafe at McCain’s blunt-spoken personality and his renowned temper, a volcanic temperament that the Arizonan himself acknowledges with some pride. But his critics say he goes too far.

“He’s needlessly abrasive,” said Hutchinson.

As an example, Hutchinson said that while he remained on the fence about whether to support campaign finance reform, McCain was “insolent and abrasive” toward him. McCain taunted him, Hutchinson said, by noting that his brother Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) had championed reform in the House.

Ultimately, Hutchinson decided to back the reform legislation, but he did so despite McCain. He was persuaded because of the entreaties of other reform advocates, he said.

McCain’s supporters say that while his in-your-face style unquestionably riles his Senate colleagues, it is a key element of his appeal among voters outside the Senate, an institution that thrives on the lubricant of ritual politesse.

“That candor has rubbed some people the wrong way,” said Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), a McCain supporter. “Some senators may not like it, but it’s endearing to the public.”

Against that backdrop, the Senate’s cloakrooms and hallways have been abuzz with anxiety following McCain’s big victory in New Hampshire and his quick gains in polling in South Carolina, the next major primary contest for the GOP.

“Their faces were drawn,” said Tom Korologos, a lobbyist close to Senate Republicans. “They were apoplectic.”

In response, Bush supporters in the Senate mobilized, from the very top on down.

Senate Majority Leader Praises Bush

Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) had been trying to avoid an official endorsement in the GOP contest, partly in deference to McCain’s candidacy. But now Lott is saying what he thinks, even if he insists it isn’t an endorsement.

“George Bush, with his experience as an executive, his character and integrity, is the best man for the job,” Lott told reporters Tuesday. “It’s an important fact to consider that an overwhelming number of senators endorse and support George W. Bush.”

Four Senate Republicans went to South Carolina to campaign for Bush on Monday. More are expected to follow from now to the state’s Feb. 19 primary. And though their presence would seem to give McCain a chance to amplify an anti-establishment message, his colleagues insist that their very willingness to actively campaign against him sends a message about him that GOP voters should heed.

“If more than 40 of those who work with you day in and day out support your opponent, you ought to watch out,” said Hutchinson.

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* BUSH TAKES DELAWARE

Texas governor wins primary; McCain comes in second. A14