McCain Sets Stage for Fall Run

By LAURA MECKLER and ELIZABETH HOLMES

In the three months since effectively capturing the Republican nomination, John McCain has built up his staff, filled campaign coffers and tried to define himself as a reliable conservative but not a George W. Bush clone.

Sen. McCain received the gift of time to lay the groundwork for his fall campaign, as Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fought each other for the Democratic nomination. Now that the Democratic fight appears to be nearing an end, the Arizona senator will soon find out how effectively he used the time.

Sen. Obama already has begun pivoting toward the general election. Soon, he will be in position to unleash a barrage of attack ads aimed at defining Sen. McCain, though it's unclear when or whether the campaign will do so. With vastly more money, Sen. Obama could flood the airwaves as voters are forming impressions.

A preview erupted yesterday when, in an interview on cable news, Sen. Obama suggested Sen. McCain was "losing his bearings." McCain adviser Mark Salter quickly countered with an open memo to reporters. He called it a "not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton swiped back. He called Mr. Salter's email a "bizarre rant" and accused him of wanting to "distract and attack."

One of Sen. Obama's emerging attacks on Sen. McCain is to try and link him with the unpopular incumbent. "We can't afford to give John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush's third term," he told a North Carolina victory rally Tuesday.

The comparison to President Bush is one of many reasons why Sen. McCain has walked a careful line as he defines himself. He helped shore up a Republican base with a string of conservative policy positions on the economy, Iraq, health care and judges. Though he has courted a maverick image of moderation, he has made clear that his policy agenda will contour to conservative thought.

"I think it was a great luxury to have the time to introduce him and his background to the American people," senior adviser Charlie Black said.

GIFT OF TIME

• In Public: John McCain has used the past three months to present himself as a reliable conservative but not a clone of George W. Bush.

• In Private: Sen. McCain has narrowed the fund-raising gap with Democrats and hired dozens of staff.

• What's Next: The Republican could face a barrage of attack ads from Democrats.

At the same time, Sen. McCain has tried to distinguish himself from the unpopular President Bush. Appearing on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart on Wednesday, he jokingly left the set when asked about the president. He then mouthed "technical difficulties" into the camera.

In recent days, Sen. McCain has criticized Mr. Bush and his administration for his handling of Hurricane Katrina and for their optimistic statements about the Iraq war, including the "Mission Accomplished" banner that hung behind the president as he spoke about the end of major combat operations.

Sen. McCain has been traveling to likely battleground states. He gave an economic speech in Pittsburgh, talked health care in Tampa, Fla., and will address climate change next week in Oregon.

And he has begun building a war chest to stay competitive with the Democrats, who have outraised Republicans this year by a wide margin. Sen. McCain has spent much of the last three months looking for cash, often hosting multiple fund-raisers in a single day.

He raised $15 million in March, the first full month after he effectively clinched the nomination. That was up from just under $12 million he pulled in during January and February. The campaign won't say how much it raised in April, but Sen. McCain told reporters it will be an improvement over March.

It is bound to be much less than Sen. Obama, who had $51 million in cash on hand at the end of March, compared with Sen. McCain's $11.6 million.

Tony Fabrizio, a Republican strategist not working on the campaign, predicted Sen. Obama would be able to raise as much as $100 million more if Sen. Clinton drops out and asks her supporters to donate to him.

Sen. McCain has the help of the Republican National Committee, which can accept larger donations and spend millions on his behalf. This week, Sen. McCain hosted his most successful fund-raiser to date, pulling in $7 million in New York City thanks to Woody Johnson, owner of the National Football League's New York Jets and heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. Most of the money went to the Victory Fund, a collaboration between the RNC and the campaign.

On the stump, Sen. McCain is laying out a string of conservative positions. He is proposing hundreds of billions of dollars in annual tax cuts, a deregulated health-care system and judicial nominees who will "strictly interpret the Constitution," code for overturning Roe v. Wade among other points on the social-conservative agenda. Next week, he addresses the National Rifle Association's annual meeting.

Sen. McCain has argued that he is a different kind of Republican. To that end, he traveled to rural areas and black communities that rarely see presidential candidates. "The fact that he went and engaged in a conversation with a voter segment that has typically been ignored by Republicans sends a very symbolic message," said Republican consultant Todd Harris.

Sen. McCain spent a week traveling to places that had been influential in his life. On Thursday, the campaign released a 60-second television advertisement featuring his 96-year-old mother. The spot, called "Johnny," will air this weekend on female-focused cable-television channels such as Lifetime, Oxygen and TLC.

"He was the sweetest, nicest child I've ever known," Roberta McCain says, with whimsical music underneath. "Well, he's not perfect," she adds. It ends with "I'm John McCain and I approve this message -- and my mom does, too."

The campaign also has worked to bring in new voters, reaching out to Hispanics and Jews, two Democratic-leaning constituencies that may have reservations about Sen. Obama. Sen. McCain is aiming to win at least 40% of the Hispanic vote, hoping his moderate stance on immigration, which hurt him in the Republican primary, will help him this fall. The campaign also points to the many Hispanics who are antiabortion Catholics and small-business owners. Only 30% of Latinos voted for Republicans running for Congress in 2006, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

On Monday, Cinco de Mayo, the campaign opened a Spanish-language version of the campaign Web site with videos of the candidate's Hispanic supporters, such as Florida Sen. Mel Martinez. The campaign also has released several Spanish-language TV ads, including one on the Internet Thursday that emphasizes Sen. McCain's small-business assistance plan.