The Return Of McCain

John McCain returned to his job as senator from Arizona, vowing to continue his push for campaign-finance changes by forming a political action committee and seeking support from the Republican Party.

He grinned broadly and bantered with the reporters who mobbed him outside his Senate office Monday, but said he did not expect the cold shoulder Tuesday from GOP colleagues, most of whom support George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination.

“I'm looking forward to having lunch with all my friends,” he said, referring to the GOP luncheon on Tuesdays when the Senate is in session. “I'm told that I will be extended a very warm welcome.”

The greeting from Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, a Bush supporter who has clashed with McCain on campaign finance reform and other issues, was cooler.

Lott said he was glad McCain was back but, “we're not going to have a parade or anything like that.”

Whatever the feelings of his Senate colleagues, McCain is now more of a political force to be reckoned with, having pressed Bush hard for the presidential nomination while helping to draw record numbers of Republican voters to primaries in more than a dozen states.

He reiterated that he has no plans for an independent or third-party presidential run. “I've always said I will support the nominee of the party and I will do that,” he told reporters.

He said nothing about an endorsement of Bush.

“I look forward to discussions with Governor Bush as time goes on,” McCain said, stressing he wants to make sure the voters who supported his campaign have their voices heard.

McCain said he would make no demands on Bush, but made it clear that the Texas governor's response to his ideas would influence how hard he works on Bush's behalf this fall.

He said that although he'll support Bush as the GOP nominee, “exactly how that happens and under what circumstances and my degree of enthusiasm obviously are questions that are yet to be resolved,” McCain said in an interview with CBS News.

The Republican party, he added, must “certainly adopt some of the reform agenda. I think that's clear that that was the lesson during this primary season.”

McCain said he would campaign for members of Congress who support his ideas and, with that in mind, his camp held preliminary discussions Monday with Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which raises money for House GOP candidates.

McCain said he would not mind if the candidates were longtime Bush supporters.

“If that was a criteria I wouldn't be doing much campaigning,” he said with a chuckle. One such Bush supporter that McCain said he would campaign for is New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is running for a Senate seat against first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

McCain, meanwhile, signed off on the &147;Straight Talk Express” PAC, which he is expected to use to raise money for a speaking tour to promote the campaign finance issue, to travel to campaign stops for other candidates and for political activities at the national GOP convention in August.

The PAC also would help keep McCain in the public eye and if Bush loses in November in position for another White House run in 2004.

Spokeswoman Nancy Ives said McCain could take to the Senate floor as early as today to speak about overhauling the campaign finance system.

During the campaign, McCain pilloried “establishment” Republicans and Democrats, saying they are out of touch with America and beholden to special interests.

He won seven GOP primaries but suspended his campaign March 9 after heavy losses to Bush two days earlier on Super Tuesday.

McCain, tanned and relaxed after a vacation, also met privately Monday with members of his campaign team, thanked them and said he took responsibility for any campaign missteps, a senior adviser said. “I'm proud of you,” he told the group.