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Campaign Veteran Takes Final Ride

Aired July 29, 2000 - 10:04 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Another veteran of the campaign is back on the trail: former Bush rival John McCain of Arizona. The senator boarded his special bus for what may or may not have been his last ride.

Our Bruce Morton went along, too.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We had a great experience, and I am a far better senator and a far better citizen as a result of having that experience.

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the road again talking issues with your friends, John McCain riding the Straight Talk Express one more time, from Washington to Philadelphia, insisting all the way that he's for Bush, wasn't trying to upstage anybody.

MCCAIN: As you know, I'm going to be campaigning with Governor Bush right after the convention, and then he and Laura are going to come and spend a day with us and an evening in Sedona. So we're looking forward to that.

MORTON: McCain had high praise for Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, and said he had no regrets about his own decision not to seek that job.

MCCAIN: When Governor Bush and I talked in Pittsburgh, I said I didn't wish to be considered. That prevailed. Some of my supporters got a little enthusiastic there in the last few days, but Governor Bush and I were always under the understanding that I was not to be considered. And I think I can serve the country better by being in the United States.

MORTON: He said the same thing about a job in a Bush Cabinet.

Asked about campaign successes, given the platform's rejection of campaign finance reform McCain saw small gains.

MCCAIN: I think I've been able to have a greater influence on the legislative process and won a small but significant victory on campaign finance reform.

MORTON: That was a bill banning anonymous issue ads. McCain also cited progress because of the number of candidates who want him to campaign with them.

The Straight Talk Express' four buses this last nostalgic day stopped in a Philadelphia suburb to campaign for one them, Stuart Greenleaf. You could wonder just which one was the candidate.

MORTON: So if Bush lost, would he do it again?

MCCAIN: I think we caught lightning in a bottle in this campaign. I don't know if you could duplicate the patriotism, the demand for reform, the resonance with young Americans. I don't know if you could ever duplicate that.

MORTON: Maybe. Maybe this was the Straight Talk Express's last ride. But few who rode with him want to bet the mortgage on it.

Bruce Morton, CNN, aboard the Straight Talk Express.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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