McCain Leads Chase for Senate Support - Jonathan Martin and Daniel W. Reilly - POLITICO.com

In 2000, it was easier to troll for favorable quotes about John McCain among his Democratic colleagues than to find Republican senators ready to say nice things about a man they had served with for years. In the end, McCain snared a grand total of four endorsements from GOP senators for his presidential campaign.

Almost a year until the first primary, McCain has already outpaced his 2000 total. He has six endorsements, and his campaign promises more soon.

That McCain is already on the way to doubling his 2000 take is a vivid illustration of the onetime maverick's ability to make amends with colleagues and the conservative establishment that many of them represent.

A Politico survey among the 49 Republican senators also found three senators backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president.

Meanwhile, Sen. Sam Brownback enjoys the support of his fellow Kansan, Sen. Pat Roberts. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been late in starting the courting process, but an aide said to "stay tuned for some upcoming announcements" of support from the Senate.

Thirty-two Republican senators said they were still undecided on whom to support, and four said they expected to sit out the primary process.

While McCain is winning more support than before, interviews with senators and key aides showed he continues to confront deep ambivalence among many colleagues. Some remain resentful over personal clashes through the years; then there are McCain's views in favor of campaign finance reform and against spending on local projects backed by home-state senators.

"I know … I am not the most popular guy with many on the Appropriations Committee because of our different views on earmarks and that whole process," McCain acknowledged in an interview.

His political strategist, John Weaver, agreed that McCain remains a tough sell for some Senate colleagues. "That's just the way life is," Weaver noted, saying McCain was running "a reality-based campaign" for the backing of fellow Republicans. Attempting to turn the tables on Romney's camp, however, Weaver added that there are "a number of governors who won't support one candidate or the other."

When it comes to endorsements, the inevitable question in modern presidential politics is: Who cares? In earlier generations, endorsements from high-profile politicians often meant delegates and organizational support, something that is no longer the case. Still, McCain may have more of a stake than most in this year's endorsement derby. As someone eyed warily by many conservative activists at the state and local level, he can benefit from the blessing of more-trusted figures.

Among the more notable people pulling an about-face on McCain is Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss. In 2000, Lott was a sometimes caustic opponent. This year, he was an early arrival in McCain's camp and is part of a small inner circle of pro-McCain senators who meet to plot strategy.

"Times change, things change and experiences change people," explained the man who lost his hold on the majority leader post after some key senators and the White House defected in the wake of Lott's racial comments at the 100th birthday party of former Sen. Strom Thurmond in 2002.

"When you've come back up out of the valley you're different," Lott said in an interview. "I believe in resurrection."

Lott also believes in his ability to count votes, as demonstrated by his audacious bid to regain a Senate leadership post after last year's elections. As with that campaign, Lott said his task whipping up support for McCain is challenging but bears promise. Like Weaver, he admitted that some in the body can't bring themselves to support their sometimes-prickly colleague, but adds that "you'd be surprised at some of those who may be rising above."

Lott wouldn't reveal names but said with a smile that "some of them may even be appropriators."

There's a couple of those whom McCain definitely won't be getting.

On Thursday, Romney's campaign announced that Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, will serve as the former governor's chief liaisons to the Senate. Both Craig and Bennett serve on the Appropriations Committee.

The powerful spending panel also includes many of the GOP's most politically important senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, New Hampshire's Judd Gregg, Alabama's Richard Shelby and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.

Another conservative not helping the McCain cause will be Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Though just a freshman, DeMint has already carved out a name for himself in the body for his outspokenness, particularly on fiscal issues. He came out for Romney last month and has been lobbying his fellow conservatives, including other junior senators like Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John Cornyn of Texas, on the former governor's behalf.

A Senate Republican aide with knowledge of the endorsement derby said Romney's wooing has been based more on his ideas and policy vision while McCain's team has focused on "the inevitability factor" and it being McCain's "turn."

Craig echoed these sentiments, praising Romney for "having many of the right thoughts for a conservative like myself."

"We are making headway," Craig said of his efforts to woo his Senate colleagues. "I am not going to talk numbers, but I am very pleased with the reception I am getting."

Craig said that he already has a good number of commitments from fellow senators and that he thinks "we will have a good number (of Romney supporters) here in the final analysis."

One Romney adviser off the Hill went so far as to predict that the Romney camp would have "as many or more endorsements from the Senate as McCain."

Bennett and Craig are hoping to reel in more of their colleagues when Romney attends a small gathering of senators in March.

One senator who Romney would love to have in hand by then is Gregg. Though endorsements haven't traditionally counted for much among the proudly independent Granite State electorate (Gregg's support for Bush in 2000 did nothing to stem his 18-point loss), the backing of New Hampshire's senior senator would serve as another indicator that Romney is consolidating the Anybody But McCain vote.

Despite buzz around Capitol Hill that it's only a matter of time before his boss gets behind Romney, Gregg's chief of staff and top political adviser Joel Maiola said the rumors "continue not to be true."

Gregg, Maiola said, has had discussions with a number of candidates, including McCain and Romney, and many of these people are "still in play."

"He's another month away," from an endorsement, Maiola said.

Facing his own tough 2008 re-election, New Hampshire's junior senator, John Sununu, won't weigh in on the White House contest.

With DeMint out for Romney and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina again behind McCain, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is the only other Republican senator from an early primary state who is still uncommitted. He told Iowa reporters last week that he would likely not make an endorsement anytime soon.

Grassley isn't alone in keeping his powder dry in the early running.

"I think the dust needs to settle on the issues," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabaman who previously has tangled with McCain. "We need to find out what these (guys) are going to fight for and die for."

Other senators said the role of endorsements in the Senate is overinflated.

"My biggest role in all of this is that I will have one vote in the Louisiana Republican primary," said Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, who has yet to make a decision on whom to support.

Still, Vitter didn't mind handicapping the race. "I think the nomination race is going to be focused on McCain and someone who will be the alternative to McCain," Vitter said. "And Romney has made a lot of headway towards becoming that alternative."

This is exactly, of course, what the Romney camp wants to hear.

Still, it recognizes the inherent strengths in the upper chamber, even for a senator whose had as many run-ins with colleagues as McCain.

"This is very much like 1988 where (former Sen.) Bob Dole was very much the Senate insider and any other candidate will have a hard time (picking up) endorsements," said a Republican strategist supporting Romney. The former governor, this source said, "is taking the George H.W. Bush role, trying to line up lots of House support," recognizing that those in the upper chamber are "either on McCain's side or frozen into neutrality."

Weaver, McCain's strategist, responded that they were also "well on track in the House" and "working it very, very hard." He also hinted that Romney's early cultivation of support from House members was more about perception than anything else.

"We're more concerned not so much as to influence the chattering class in Washington, but to influence voters."

Still, Weaver couldn't resist one dig at the former chief executive and chair of the Republican Governors Association. "How well are they doing among governors?" he asked of Romney's campaign.

To date, Romney has the support of only one of the nation's 22 GOP governors.