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WEST ST PAUL — They used to bristle at the mention of his name. Now, current and former Republican members of Congress who battled John McCain in the chambers of Congress want to see him elected president.
That's one way to get him out of their hair.
"You just had to live with the fact that he wasn't going to be there on some very important votes," said former Sen. Rick Santorum, a conservative Pennsylvania Republican. "It's frustrating because you think he should've been there."
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., recalls all those hyphenated pieces of legislation that McCain co-authored with Democrats on immigration, campaign finance and environment.
"I was up against McCain-Kennedy, McCain-Feingold, McCain-Lieberman," he said. "That was John McCain. That's where he is at."
Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2 Republican leader in the House, is quick to cast McCain as a party maverick.
"Which is both encouraging and sometimes, when you work with him, challenging," Blunt added.
The frustrating, the challenging John McCain. And now they love him for it.
Of course, this is what Republicans want the public to hear. McCain is not one of us, they seem to say, because if he were, he'd lose.
"The Republican brand is so damaged," Santorum said, "that your typical down-the-line Republican presidential candidate would have one very tough time cutting though it all and winning this race."
It's a testament to how poor a self-image Republicans have that they have rallied around a man they once considered a party apostate. Indeed, there are mutual interests at the Republican National Convention here this week: McCain the prodigal son returning to the embrace of his party and the GOP in search of reflected glory.
McCain approval ratings are far ahead of Republicans and ahead of President Bush. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll last month had Democrat Barack Obama ahead of McCain 47 percent to 41 percent. Asked who should control Congress, poll respondents said Democrats over Republicans 53 percent to 35 percent. Bush's approval rating is 31 percent.
McCain "has a brand that's separate and apart from the Republican Party," said Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., chairman of the House Republican Conference, the third-ranking GOP leader.
McCain has had peak years as the party bad boy. In 2001, he supported the Republican position on legislation 67 percent of the time, according to voting studies by Congressional Quarterly. In 2005, his support for Bush's position on legislation reached a low of 77 percent.
But he hasn't been a total outlier, either. Overall during Bush's term, McCain has a 90 percent match with the president's position — 95 percent in 2007.
He now supports policies and positions he once opposed, including Bush's tax cuts and expanded oil drilling on the continental shelf. He once supported a comprehensive immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants; he now says securing the borders must come first.
Blunt also said that for all the frustration McCain may have caused with Republicans in Congress, many appreciate him for his backing in tough elections.
"I don't believe there is another member of the Senate who has campaigned for more members of the House than John McCain," Blunt said.
That's the image Democrats would like to stoke — McCain as a party insider and Bush loyalist. Obama ads portray McCain as a virtual handmaiden to the unpopular Bush. They cite his overall voting record in support of the president and his stands on policies that match Bush's. A picture of a Bush-McCain hug has become a veritable logo for the Democrats.
But the image of McCain as an independent figure is fixed in many voters' minds. And Republicans want to make sure it remains that way.
"He's legitimately bucked party orthodoxy on a regular basis," Putnam said. "He's legitimately had battles royal with the current president, which is why it's absurd to attempt to make this a question about four more years of the Bush administration."
The prickly, on and off relationship with congressional Republicans would probably not end with McCain in the White House. With a Democratic majority in Congress, McCain could reach out to the other party for deals and compromises that frustrate Republicans. On other issues, McCain might be expected to hold fast with his party and veto Democratic initiatives.
Asked what he envisioned, Blunt replied, "It would depend on which day."
