John McCain is trying to contrast his views with those of President Bush.

By ELISABETH BUMILLER

WASHINGTON - The Democrats like to say that electing Senator John McCain would usher in the third term of George W. Bush, and they do not mean it as a compliment. The Republicans counter that calling the senator “McBush’’ is political spin and that Mr. McCain is his own man.
A look at Mr. McCain’s 25-year record in the House and Senate, his 2008 campaign positions and his major speeches over the last three months indicates that on many major issues, his stances are indeed similar to Mr. Bush’s brand of conservatism. But on American diplomacy and nuclear proliferation, Mr. McCain has strikingly different views from Mr. Bush, and while he shares the president’s goals in Iraq, he was at times an outspoken critic of the way the war was managed.
The disparities between the two are murkier on other issues. On immigration, Mr. McCain started out with Mr. Bush - breaking with the Republican mainstream - by favoring a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, then backed off and emphasized the border- security-first approach favored by a majority of his party.
When it comes to dealing with terrorism suspects, Mr. McCain has supported imposing tighter rules on the use of harsh interrogation techniques, but has consistently been with the president on limiting the legal rights of Guantanamo detainees. His campaign has recently signaled that he believes it was constitutional for the president to authorize wiretaps without warrants to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and e-mail.
Mr. McCain has reversed himself on some issues and continues to adjust his positions on others. On balance, the Mc- Cain campaign has sought to emphasize the differences between Mr. McCain and the unpopular Mr. Bush rather than the similarities.
“In the last 10 years, he’s been an independent voice for what he thinks is in his country’s best interest, said Mark Salter, one of Mr. McCain’s closest advisers. “Sometimes it’s brought him into conflict with members of his party and with the president. The Democrats know that.
Presidencies are about more than policies, of course, and Mr. McCain would bring a different style, background and world view to the White House should he be elected .
Although he once held very different views, Mr. McCain’s biggest similarity to Mr. Bush now is on the economy. Not only does the senator now support making permanent the large Bush tax cuts he once opposed, but he has proposed four major new tax cuts of his own.
On health care, Mr. McCain has a market- oriented model similar to the one that Mr. Bush proposed to little effect in 2007. Mr. McCain would shift the emphasis from insurance provided by employers to insurance bought by individuals, and would offer a tax benefit for families to do so.
On the Iraq war, Mr. McCain has been one of the president’s biggest defenders of its stated rationale: saving the world from Saddam Hussein. Yet he was also an early advocate of increasing troop levels at a time when Mr. Bush was resistant.
Like Mr. Bush, Mr. McCain envisions a long-term American presence in the country. But last month in Ohio, Mr. Mc- Cain said he expected that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013.
Perhaps Mr. McCain’s biggest departure from the president is on climate change. Mr. McCain has called for mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, unlike Mr.Bush, who says such limits would be bad for the economy. Mr. McCain also supports a “cap and trade’’ system in which polluters could meet limits on carbon dioxide by either reducing emissions on their own or by buying credits from more efficient producers.
On diplomacy, Mr. McCain has distanced himself from the unilateralism of the Bush administration.
“We cannot build an enduring peace based on freedom by ourselves, and we do not want to, Mr. McCain said in a major foreign policy address in Los Angeles in late March. “We have to strengthen our global alliances as the core of a new compact.
On Iran and North Korea, Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, would refuse to engage in unconditional diplomacy with Iran and would continue to maintain contact with North Korea, primarily through multilateral talks. He has insisted, however, that the United States be able to verify effectively any agreement in which North Korea promises to abandon its nuclear weapons.