Candidate McCain to make tough House call

Sen. John McCain may be the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, but he still has a long way to go to ease the concerns of many House Republicans.

Those lawmakers expect the Arizona Republican to answer questions about his positions on immigration, tax cuts and campaign finance reform, and they will have their chance to express their own views on Wednesday when he ventures into the Capitol Hill Club to address them.

{mosads}“I expect he’ll come in and that would be the time for him to really talk to members and listen to [them],” Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters on Tuesday.

But Blunt is convinced that McCain can win their support. “I absolutely think it can and will happen,” he said.

Others say McCain will have to tread carefully in the room and be mindful of the way he delivers his answers.

“Members will be generally curious to hear what Sen. McCain has to say, but the tone of his message and the framework of his campaign strategy will be very important, particularly to conservatives,” said a senior House GOP leadership aide. “Will he sound like the ‘my-way-or-the-highway’ McCain that’s graced the Senate for 10 years? Or will he sound like a presidential candidate that realizes it’s a two-way street and is willing to embrace conservativism?”

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) agreed with Blunt that the members will come around and back McCain.

Blackburn, who endorsed former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, said it will likely take a good deal of effort on McCain’s part to woo some of the more reluctant members.

“Some things take time, and this may just be one of those things that takes time,” Blackburn said.

Blackburn did say she thinks McCain would be “well served” to continue with his congressional outreach to both win over members and hear what their constituents are thinking.

On Wednesday, McCain made a rare appearance on the Senate floor, where he seemed to make headway in soothing tensions within his caucus over his nomination. He shook hands and had a warm conversation with Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a ferocious critic of his bill to control global warming. McCain embraced Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), who previously said the thought of McCain being president “sends a cold chill down my spine.”

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who supported Republican Mitt Romney’s failed bid for the nomination, had a lengthy conversation with McCain on the floor.

“You got it, I’ll do it,” McCain said sternly on the floor in response to a suggestion made by Gregg.{mospagebreak}

Gregg later declined to elaborate on the conversation, saying that they were discussing “tactics.”

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has been a strong critic of McCain’s quest for the nomination, criticizing his immigration bill and his votes against President Bush’s tax cuts. But DeMint sounded a conciliatory note Tuesday and said he was ready to get behind McCain.

{mosads}“It’s good to see him around,” DeMint said later. “I think he’s pulling people together.”

One House member who has had differences with McCain, Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.), said the GOP conference spans the ideological gambit and that support isn’t necessarily going to be the largest challenge that he faces. Campbell said that McCain’s main challenge is that his position on a number of issues differs from that of many of his fellow Republicans in the House.

“The issue is how enthusiastically they’ll support him,” Campbell said.

Even Campbell, who saw McCain endorse his opponent in 2005, said he would reserve his own commitment until the nomination is sealed.

“I’m not going to endorse him officially or unofficially” before the convention, said Campbell, who had endorsed Romney.

Charlie Black, a senior adviser to McCain, said Tuesday that he does expect the senator will listen to the concerns raised by GOP lawmakers.

“I assume he’ll take their questions just like he does with voters at town halls,” Black said.

Black said McCain should enjoy a wealth of good will with a large majority of Republican House members, having campaigned for a great deal of them in recent years and having spent time in the lower body himself.

Black acknowledged that some lawmakers will be harder to convince than others, but he said the goal is to build a coalition.

“I don’t think it has to be unanimous,” Black said. “We seek everybody’s support and will patiently seek it.”

In the end, Black said he thinks most Republicans who attend Wednesday morning’s meeting will be won over and ready to support their party’s presumptive nominee.

“I think the preponderance of them will be for McCain when they come out of that meeting,” Black said. “And if they’re not, we’ll keep working on it.”

Manu Raju contributed to this story.