Keene, N.H. – Sen. John McCain began last week by embracing the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the conservative religious leader he once denounced as polarizing.
He ended it by joining Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal Massachusetts icon, in a fight for an immigration bill opposed by many conservatives.
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 appeal to an unusually diverse audience and cement his early standing in the emerging Republican presidential field.
The Arizonan’s alliance with Kennedy came 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 fundraisers.
But a strategy designed to muscle him through the 2008 Republican primaries – should he ultimately run, which aides say is likely but not definite – risks diluting the independent image that has been central to his political appeal.
Already, 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.
In an interview at his Senate office, McCain said 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 would argue that I have not changed any of my positions, and if I did really change my positions on issues, that I would lose what is probably one of the greatest attractions that people have for me, and that is as a person who stands up for what he believes in,” McCain said.
“I’ve always been a conservative,” he said. “I think my voting record clearly indicates that.”