What Does McCain Want?

He may be down, he may be out, but John McCain remains a force to be reckoned with in Campaign 2000.

George W. Bush and Al Gore are gushing over McCain's reform mantle as they are rushing to claim his voters since the Arizona Senator suspended his GOP bid for the White House last week.

But one leader in the McCain camp told CBS News' Face The Nation on Sunday that voters who have climbed aboard the "Straight Talk Express" won't jump too fast on to another candidate's bandwagon.

"I don't think attracting them will be terribly easy for anyone," former New Hampshire Senator Warren Rudman, the McCain campaign's national co-chairman, said of Bush and Gore.

And Rudman said don't expect a McCain endorsement of fellow Republican Bush just yet.

"John McCain is a good Republican. John McCain wants a Republican in the White House. John McCain is not going to, however, set aside his principles. I don't know what endorsements are worth unless they are sincere."

Rudman did not shed any new light on what a McCain endorsement of the Texas Governor would require. McCain has said he doesn't want the number two spot on the GOP ticket, nor will he bolt the Republican Party to launch a third-party or independent run for President.

"I think Governor Bush has to think long and hard about talking to John McCain about the things that are important to him," added Rudman.

Would Bush adopt McCain's position against soft money in presidential campaigns?

"Maybe there are places they can find steps to work towards the goal of the campaign finance reform that both can agree on," said Bush campaign strategist Karl Rove.

And 1996 GOP nominee Bob Dole told Face The Nation on Sunday that he's talked with McCain, but added they didn't discuss Bush or an endorsement.

As for a Bush-McCain ticket, Dole gave his own take.

"I think right now it looks good…It depends on what happens what happens with Governor Bush and John McCain, their personal relationship, what they're both willing to do…They'd be a great ticket."

Dole said whatever happens, Bush and McCain "will work this out. If I know the two of them, they're both good people. They'll work it out."

The former Senate Majority Leader from Kansas predicted McCain will have an impact when he returns to Capitol Hill on March 20.

"I see a different John McCain coming back to the Senate - not the Senator from Arizona, but suddenly he is this national leader, this national figure, very well known."

Every time McCain speaks, "there will be a lot of people around the country listening," said Dole.

But wait a moment: McCain has had a rocky relationship with his party's leadership in the Senate. His stands on campaign finance reform, pork barrel spending, and tobacco policy have vexed Trent Lott, the Mississippi Republican who succeeded Dole as Majority Leader. Also, McCain's shoot-from-the-hp, pull-no-punches style is a reason why only four GOP Senators endorsed him for President.

Dole replied that's all in the past, noting that Republicans who can count will realize McCain's vote-getting appeal - and will want it as badly as Bush or Gore, if not more.

"There will be a lot of members (of Congress) running for reelection who will want John McCain in their states" campaigning with them, said Dole.

"This is the future. And the future is winning, and that means...an endorsement from McCain." he added. "A lot of his ideas are going to have to be looked at."

Al Gore was one subject that the Bush and McCain camps found some common ground on Face The Nation.

In a New York Times interview on Sunday, the Vice President said he had made mistakes in the 1996 campaign when he made calls from the White House to solicit soft money and attended a Buddhist Temple fundraiser.

To Warren Rudman in the McCain camp, "It appears like the Vice President has decided to say that he was a sinner and now is repentant and will make campaign finance reform the centerpiece of his campaign."

To Bush campaign strategist Karl Rove, Gore's regrets sounded more like damage control than contrition.

"Think about the logic behind that: he is saying, 'I'm the best at violating the current campaign laws. Give me a chance to define the new ones.' That's a joke."

"He said he made a mistake, but these are potential violations of law. People are going to jail over this…It's more than a mistake."

Gore has challenged Bush to two debates a week in the fall, an idea Rove calls a "gimmick" meant to "paper over" the Vice President's serious problems with campaign finance.

Rove said while Gore pitched the debate idea and called for both campaigns to refrain from using soft money, the Vice President's campaign was also "boasting that the President of the United States was making a fabulous tour for them in California, raising millions of dollars."