McCain campaigns for Bush in West

FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- Senator John McCain, the Republican from Arizona who John F. Kerry hoped would consider running with him on a unity ticket, joined President Bush on a campaign swing through the West yesterday and heartily praised the incumbent's leadership in the war on terror.

"He has led this country with moral clarity," McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said of Bush before a hangar packed with Army soldiers at Fort Lewis yesterday morning. "He has not wavered in his determination to protect this country. You will not yield. Nor will he."

McCain's support of Bush is important to a president whose own military credentials have been questioned. It is not the first time McCain has hit the campaign trail on Bush's behalf, but coming just days after widespread reports that he had rebuffed Kerry's overtures to consider becoming the Democrats' running mate, the senator's support was especially welcomed by the White House yesterday.

"Both candidates in this race are honored to be the friend of John McCain," Bush said at an event in Reno in the afternoon. "Only one of us gets his vote. And I am proud that it is me."

McCain and Bush have had a rocky relationship, dating from their rugged Republican primary contest in 2000. McCain forced Bush to fight much harder than many thought he would have to for the nomination of a party whose powerbrokers had lined up behind the son of former President George H. W. Bush.

The senator has been critical of how the president has handled some aspects of the war in Iraq. He has pushed for the Bush administration to send more troops to Iraq, and his assessment of the progress being made there has often been much bleaker than the administration's view.

McCain has even taken the unusual step of defending Kerry against Republican attacks. But McCain has consistently said he backs Bush's reelection and serves as cochairman of his reelection effort in Arizona. McCain also traveled to New Hampshire earlier this year to stump for Bush after Democratic nominees had pounded on the president during their primary contest.

"I want to thank Senator John McCain for joining us," Bush said at Fort Lewis. "It is a privilege to be introduced to our men and women in uniform by a man who brought such credit to the uniform. When he speaks of service and sacrifice, he speaks from experience."

Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, said McCain's support of the president is "unsurprising."

"It's been consistent and clear from the beginning," said Cahill, adding that the two senators have a relationship that goes beyond politics. "I think it's two different relationships. Senators McCain and Kerry, from my observation, relate as peers, friends, and colleagues, and they talk about a range of issues -- health to national security, all kinds of things."

Marshall Wittman, McCain's communications director, said the senator's backing of Bush won't affect his friendship with fellow Vietnam War veteran Kerry.

"Senator McCain believes that friendship transcends political partisanship," Wittman said.

While McCain has differed from Bush in the past, those differences didn't come up yesterday.

McCain embraced Bush's view of the conflict in Iraq as a stark battle between good and evil. He backed up Bush's assertion that Saddam Hussein's regime was a threat to the United States. And McCain agreed with Bush that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were a clarion call that changed the way the United States must deal with threats. "He heard the call to action on that terrible day," McCain said at Fort Lewis.

As the senator spoke, Bush stood 6 feet behind him, his posture as erect as the soldiers who stood at his side.

When it was his turn at the podium, Bush defended the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and took a shot at Kerry, though not by name. "I've made a commitment," Bush said. "Senator McCain and [Nevada Republican Senator John] Ensign have made the same commitment to the men and women of our military and their families: You will have all the resources and all the capabilities you need to fight and win the war on terror."

Bush campaign ads have pointed to Kerry's vote last year against a special $87 billion funding request to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the funding would have included equipment for troops and calling the Massachusetts senator weak on defense. Kerry said he wanted the spending request to be offset by the repeal of tax cuts for the wealthy.

The warm reception McCain got from the soldiers at Fort Lewis underscored his value to Bush in blunting Kerry's use of his military record. And McCain is popular in his home state of Arizona, as well as in the swing states of Nevada and Washington.

Al Gore carried Washington in 2000 by five percentage points. At a fund-raiser for Republican Senate candidate George R. Nethercutt Jr. Thursday night, Bush said he is going to reverse that outcome. "Both of us are going to carry this state," he said.

Bush won Arizona in 2000, but the state's growing Hispanic population could give Kerry an opening. Nevada also gave its electoral votes to Bush by a narrow margin in 2000.

Glen Johnson of the Globe staff contributed to this report.