Blessed Savior and Loyal Disciple

"Impersonal" or just a quick pick-me-up?
Hate the sin but love the sinner?

New Partnership Binds Old GOP Rivals

NEW YORK TIMES (7-4-06) -- After years of competitive and often contentious dealings, President Bush and Sen. John McCain of Arizona are building a deepening if impersonal relationship that is serving the political needs of both men.

The president had Mr. McCain to the White House three times in one week recently to talk about how Mr. Bush should make the case for the war in Iraq and how to break the wall of conservative opposition to the immigration measures proposed by both men. Mr. McCain was back in the Oval Office again on Tuesday to talk about ways to win approval of the line-item veto.

Behind the scenes, during a month in which he repeatedly came to Mr. Bush's public defense, Mr. McCain called the president to offer words of support, he recounted in an interview.

"I said, 'Look, hang on, things are bad,' " Mr. McCain said. "I said, 'I'm proud of the job you are doing, and I wanted you to know that I will continue to do what I can to help.'

"I've tried, when his numbers went down, to be more supportive and outspoken, because I'd love to pick him up," Mr. McCain said.

Aides said a thaw that began when Mr. McCain campaigned alongside Mr. Bush in the 2004 election has continued through the tougher days of Mr. Bush's second term.

"He calls me Johnny Mac," Mr. McCain said.

"This is a very odd partnership that is almost founded at the moment on mutual need," said Tom Rath, a Republican leader in New Hampshire and a longtime ally of the Bush family, who hastened to add that Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain share more convictions than people realize and would not be working so closely if that were not the case.

Whatever the motivation, the relationship has potentially big political implications for the 2008 race, although Mr. Bush's aides have said that he would almost certainly stay out of the Republican primary contest. And some aides declined to comment publicly for this article out of concern, they said, that they would appear to be giving the White House stamp of approval for a McCain campaign. But the president appears to have stronger ties to Mr. McCain than to the other likely presidential candidates.

John Weaver, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain, said that accounts of animosity between Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush had been at least slightly exaggerated.

"There's heat in a campaign, and it can get pretty raw," said Mr. Weaver, who had a particularly famous feud with Mr. Rove. "I can speak for ourselves: after we lost the nominating process in 2000, it was time to move on. It took longer for some of us on the staff level to get to that point, but we did."

But Mr. McCain has become one of the biggest defenders of Mr. Bush, even on some of the president's most unpopular moves, including the administration's decision this year to approve a deal giving control of several American ports to a company owned by the Dubai government.

"On a series of very tough issues, McCain's been there," said Tony Snow, the White House press secretary.