Sunday, the Bush campaign announced McCain would hit the trail with the governor in several states, including New Hampshire, this week.

The goal, staffers said, is to make one final grab for young independent voters and women. Twenty-nine of the nation's Republican governors have also been recruited for the effort.

Bush and Vice President Al Gore '69 are within the margin of error in most national polls of likely voters, though momentum in several key states like Michigan and Florida appears to be swinging toward the Republican standard-bearer.

Though Bush and McCain have reached a state of dtente in their personal relationship following a bruising primary seasons, their two campaigns have never acquired an affinity for each other.

Aides to Governor Bush have accused McCain staffers of trying to exact political leverage in exchange for active campaigning on behalf of Bush and a full-throated endorsement, while McCain advisers found Bush's aides to be aloof, insisting that McCain follow the campaign's script.

Contact between the campaigns has been sporadic--and relations have been "cordial, and nothing more," Davis said.

More recently, the Bush campaign has made an active play for the voters who supported McCain but who were reluctant to accept his endorsement of Bush.

Speaking to a class at the Kennedy School of Government on Sept. 26, Davis said Bush campaign chair Don Evans contacted him about what it would take for Bush field workers to attract McCain sympathizers.