McCain Emphasizing His Conservative Bona Fides

    Senator John McCain began his week by embracing the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the conservative religious leader he once denounced as polarizing. He ended it by joining Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal Massachusetts icon, in a fight for an immigration bill opposed by many conservatives.

    Mr. McCain has long sought to present himself as a singular sort of American politician — straight-talking, iconoclastic and hard to quantify. But as he began a campaign-style trip here that will take him through Florida, Ohio and Iowa, he faced an extraordinarily complex political challenge as he sought to reconcile his appeals to an unusually diverse audience and cement his early standing in the emerging Republican presidential field.

    Mr. McCain's alliance with Mr. Kennedy comes as he has embarked on a campaign to repair strains with conservatives and a once-wary Bush White House. He is portraying himself as a lifelong conservative and a steadfast supporter of President Bush, once a political rival, courting his senior staff members and fund-raisers.

    He has endorsed Bush tax cuts he once criticized as fiscally ruinous, and he agreed to appear at a commencement at Liberty University, headed by Mr. Falwell, whom Mr. McCain once called an agent of "intolerance."

    But a strategy designed to muscle him through the 2008 Republican primaries — should he ultimately run, which aides says is likely but not definite — risks diluting the independent image that has been central to his political appeal. Already, Mr. McCain is facing stiff questions from supporters and critics about how far he will go to win support from conservative leaders who have long been wary of him.

    Mr. McCain said that he had not changed any position for political reasons, and that he was more conservative than his occasional high-profile breaks with the right might lead casual observers to believe.

    "I've always been a conservative," he said. "I think my voting record clearly indicates that on economic issues, national security issues, social issues — I'm pro-life — so I think I could make an argument I've had a pretty clear 20-some-year record basically being conservative."

    Mr. McCain's associates said it would be nearly impossible to win the nomination without quelling concern among conservatives who, even before his immigration bill — over which he was attacked by Republicans at two town hall meetings he held during his 24 hours here — were concerned by his advocacy for campaign finance laws, a global warming treaty and gun control.

    A critical part of Mr. McCain's strategy to win the nomination is to persuade conservatives to swallow concerns about those views by presenting himself as the most electable Republican because of his appeal to moderates and independents. That distinction could fade should Mr. McCain emerge with a lasting reputation as conservative or hypocritical, his advisers said.

    If he has not changed his positions, as Mr. McCain repeatedly insisted in an interview, he has at the very least changed the coloring of how he has presented himself to the public.

    After denouncing Mr. Bush's tax cuts when they were first proposed, he voted in favor of making them permanent. He spoke approvingly of a South Dakota law that would prohibit virtually all abortions, part of an effort by abortion opponents to prod the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, though he said it should include an exemption for rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother.

    He said schools should be allowed to offer "intelligent design" courses as an alternative to evolution, a huge issue for many conservatives. And he accepted the invitation to speak at the Liberty University commencement by Mr. Falwell, saying he saw no difference between that and accepting an invitation from Bob Kerrey, the former senator from Nebraska, to speak at the New School, where Mr. Kerrey is president.

    Mr. McCain's reconciliation campaign has had some success with conservative leaders. Mr. Falwell spoke warmly of Mr. McCain, saying he was as conservative on social issues as any Republican who might run for president.

    "I've felt since I first knew about him that he stood on the right side of the ball on social issues," Mr. Falwell said. "I don't think he has changed his views. He is certainly pro-life. He clearly is an advocate of the husband-female family, he does not support same-sex marriage. I know of no reason I could not support him."

    Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the Democratic Leadership Council and a former adviser to Mr. McCain, disputed any suggestion that Mr. McCain was trying to repackage his political product.

    "Neither the right nor the left understands him," Mr. Wittmann said. "He's always had unconventional alliances. It's just now the left doesn't like the alliances he's making when in the past they would have approved of them.

    "If John McCain had been elected in 2000," he continued, "he would likely have been as conservative or more conservative than President Bush."

    On a second front, after a famously rancorous primary battle with Mr. Bush in 2000, Mr. McCain has made a methodical effort to rebuild his standing with the Bush family. It started in 2004, when he latched himself to Mr. Bush's side, and has continued this year with his defense of an increasingly isolated Mr. Bush on the war in Iraq and the proposed Dubai ports deal.

    Last week, Mr. McCain went to Texas to speak at a program sponsored by the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation, where he offered effusive praise of the president's mother and father, who were beaming at his side.

    As he campaigned through New Hampshire this weekend, Mr. McCain seemed almost to enjoy the complicated road he was following: defending his immigration bills against an angry challenge from a former Republican state representative from North Hampton one moment, and saying that Mr. Bush had not been given the credit he deserved for the roaring economy the next.

    "I think a lot of people don't exactly get where I'm at," he said.