McCain Adds New Style to Reform Effort

A day after his decisive defeat in South Carolina by George W. Bush, John McCain was back in his favorite position: underdog. And Bush was in his favorite position: front-runner.

The Republican presidential contenders crisscrossed Michigan on Sunday, each man saying he had been energized by their primary battle in South Carolina and each man claiming he was the real reformer in the race.

At campaign stops throughout the day--punctuated by the theme from “Star Wars”--McCain roused crowds with a tough new campaign style that challenged Bush’s record and mocked the Texas governor’s claim of being a “reformer with results.” McCain maintained the movie metaphor in a television interview. “I’m Luke Skywalker trying to get out of the Death Star,” he said. “We took a hit and we’re leaking fuel. We’re going to make it.”

The night before, McCain delivered not so much a concession speech--he lost to Bush 42% to 53%--but a call to arms, saying voters could choose between his message of “optimistic and welcoming conservatism” and Bush’s “negative message of fear.”

“Gov. Bush calls himself a reformer,” McCain told a crowd of more than 1,000 at a Michigan State University gym in East Lansing. “My friends, if he’s a reformer, I’m an astronaut.”

On his campaign bus, McCain was even more blunt. As if addressing Bush, he vowed to confront any attempt by Bush to claim the reform mantle in Michigan: “We’re not letting you get away with that, pal. You’re not a reformer. Anybody who believes that you’re a reformer, believes in the tooth fairy.”

But Bush’s message of reform did strike a chord with South Carolina voters and, judging from some reactions at an energetic Bush rally in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, it continues to resonate.

“He’s going to make change in Washington, promote education for our children and tax cuts,” said Shahina Begg, 48, a Muslim from India who owns a retail furniture company with her husband.

Begg spoke at a rally at Lawrence Technological University that, unlike earlier Bush events in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, was notable for its racial diversity. Muslim women in head scarves mixed with African Americans, white small-business owners and young boys in yarmulkes. Gov. John Engler, who campaigned with Bush, called the rally “a U.N. assembly in this room today.”

“Michigan has a very vast Arab Muslim population as well as Indian population,” Begg said. “One of the thrusts of Gov. Engler’s policies is to bring different groups together.” Bush, she said, has similar goals.

The latest polls in Michigan show the Arizona senator slightly ahead of Bush, but well within the margin of error. Arizona, where McCain enjoys a predictable advantage, also holds its primary Tuesday.

Sunday was perhaps most notable for providing a stage for the latest resurrection of John McCain. All through his life, from his days as a roguish ne’er-do-well at the U.S. Naval Academy to his resistance to prison guards in North Vietnam, the 63-year-old war hero has always played the role of rebel battling the establishment.

He returned to that part Sunday, seeming to turn any disappointment over his loss into a newfound aggressiveness. He was further energized when U.S. Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) switched his endorsement from Bush to McCain.

“We took a punch yesterday. But we get up off the floor,” McCain told a boisterous crowd of more than 600 in Livonia. “I’ve gotten up off the floor. I’ve taken a few punches. I’ve crashed a few airplanes. I spent a couple of years in a hotel where there was no mint on the pillow [an allusion to his prison, dubbed the “Hanoi Hilton”]. And I’m telling you right now, my friends, we’re fired up. We’re going to win Michigan.”

He promised to pound home the message that brought him success in the New Hampshire primary--promoting school vouchers, eliminating corporate tax breaks and saving Social Security.

Bush shrugged off the King endorsement--”Everybody’s got a right to do what they need to do”-- and noted that, although pundits predicted a large turnout in South Carolina would hurt him, the exact opposite happened. “I’m really proud of the results,” he said, adding that he won the votes of many young people. “I sense the same thing is going to happen in Michigan.”

Bush also compared McCain’s election night remarks with his own more conciliatory concession speech in New Hampshire. The speeches, he suggested, defined their characters. Michigan voters have “had a chance to see each of us react to victory and each of us react to defeat,” Bush said. “It’s up to the voters to make up their minds about how each of us handles adversity.”