Bush has contended that McCain's plan would still allow for large donations from labor unions that have traditionally backed the Democratic Party.
But McCain called Bush's charge a "classic status quo defense of the present system," which politicians have "become addicted to." McCain stressed that he was a "proud conservative Republican."
"If I thought campaign finance reform harmed my party, I would not have been a part of it," he said.
Yet despite his talk of party loyalty, McCain, has made a name for himself as a "maverick," according to Kennedy School of Government Public Service Professor David Gergen, who introduced McCain.
The Arizona senator has also opposed Republican Party leadership on tobacco issues, Gergen told the ARCO forum audience.
Gergen, an former adviser to both Republican Democratic presidents, also talked about McCain's "crusty demeanor," which he suggested was inherited from the candidate's father and grandfather, who were both also named John McCain and who both served as four-star admirals in the U.S. Navy.
The senator served in the military, spending five years in captivity as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
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