Back on the Bus, McCain Rolls Into Philadelphia

Sen. John McCain of Arizona resurrected his famous Straight Talk Express bus Saturday, rolling into the Republican National Convention with a merry band of press and a determination to avoid any coulda-woulda-shouldas.

McCain, who nearly upended Texas Gov. George W. Bush for the Republican nomination, billed his one-day bus tour as a lighthearted effort to relive some of the glory of his upstart campaign.

He played loyal soldier, promoting Bush’s candidacy and playing down any suggestions of continued rancor, despite the occasional bitterness that marked the close-fought campaign.

“I’m in step eight of a 12-step presidential recovery program,” he said. “There [are] still some lingering animosities out there, but overall, our relationship--mine and Gov. Bush--is very cordial.”

Significantly, McCain indulged in a bit of speculation about his future in case of a Bush loss, refusing to rule out a future presidential bid. McCain said repeatedly during his campaign that he would not compete again, citing his age and the difficulty of recapturing the excitement of this year’s primary season. He also said he would consider a Cabinet position, if offered.

“I really don’t envision a scenario,” he said, “but to say absolutely not--I’ve never said absolutely not to anything.”

More than anything, Saturday’s seven-hour bus ride from Arlington, Va., was continued evidence of the tremendous popularity McCain enjoys with the media, perhaps his most loyal constituency.

More than 70 reporters and photographers showed up, filling four buses. That approached the attention given Bush, the presumed GOP presidential nominee, who during his own bus tour through the Midwest has been followed by about 100 members of the media.

“It’s just a big happy reunion,” joked Mike Murphy, a McCain advisor now working in the campaign of Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.), who is running for the Senate in New York against First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But the atmosphere on the bus lacked the seat-of-the-pants spontaneity that marked McCain’s underfunded bid for the presidency against a candidate who initially had far more money and endorsements.

Indeed, the Straight Talk Express seemed at times to veer from the blunt talk that became McCain’s hallmark.

McCain once said that Bush’s experience in foreign policy amounted to a trip to the International House of Pancakes, a line that echoed Pat Buchanan’s famously ill-tempered diatribe against then-Democratic candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.

But on Saturday, he maintained that Bush’s choice of former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, as well as recent foreign policy pronouncements on such topics as missile defense, had convinced him that Bush would be more than able to lead the country in foreign affairs.

And while he compared himself to Luke Skywalker during the primaries, fighting in “Star Wars” against the Death Star of the Bush campaign, Saturday he pronounced himself pleased with Bush’s “centrist, inclusive” agenda.

“I’m not campaigning for Darth Vader. I’m campaigning for Gov. Bush,” McCain said.

McCain denied suggestions that he was trying to steal the spotlight from his onetime foe. He described the trip as the brainchild of a reporter who had followed him during the campaign and said that he he had been helpless to rein it in as it “grew and grew and grew and grew and grew.”

But he bristled when one reporter asked whether he had asked permission from the Bush camp to conduct such a tour.

“The last time I checked, I’m a United States senator elected by the people of Arizona,” McCain said.

McCain, who described his run as “the greatest experience of my life,” showed genuine emotion when asked whether he thinks about how he could have done things differently. He stumbled for a moment, then shook his head slowly.

“I just force myself mentally . . . not to do that. You just got to look forward,” he said.

While Bush advisors and supporters were not exactly pleased with McCain’s trip, nor with several more planned high-profile appearances during the GOP convention, neither were they overly angered.

Analysts, in fact, said the attention given McCain may benefit Bush.

“He has indicated his total and complete support for Gov. Bush and the ticket,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres.