Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain brought his crusade for campaign finance reform to his target crowd--youth voters--at a well-attended town meeting at the Institute of Politics Friday.

The lack of finance reform has weakened politics, said the three-term senator from Arizona, making it one of the factors that has made young voters apathetic.

"If money is free speech," McCain told the college-age crowd, "then the special interests are in the front row with megaphones, and you're back there whispering."

McCain said he is convinced that by reforming the way elections are financed and "giving government back to the people," he can restore young people's faith in American democracy.

He established a tenuous link between his themes of low youth voter turnout and campaign finance reform as he referred to the 1996 presidential campaign.

In that year, both Democrats' and Republicans' alleged violations of campaign finance contributions turned young voters off to politics, McCain said, citing that 1996 voter turnout among 18-to-26-year-olds was the lowest since 18-year-olds won the right to vote.

Dealing with a possible consequence of his campaign finance reform proposal, McCain responded to charges by Republican presidential frontrunner and Texas Gov. George W. Bush that it would give an unfair advantage to the Democratic Party.

The bill is aimed at ending "soft money," directed toward national party organizations rather than specific campaigns.

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.

McCain capitalized on the "crusty demeanor" Gergen says he inherited, and repeatedly joked with the audience at his own expense.

"I didn't win 'Miss Congeniality' this year in the Senate," McCain said, explaining his lack of support among Republican groups.

Twice, when talking about pork-barrel spending and mistreatment of American Indians, McCain feigned horror at the idea of losing his temper, a joking reference to those reporters who have questioned his emotional stability.

Expressing optimism about his chances to win the New Hampshire primary--he said recent polls have actually put him ahead of Bush--McCain nevertheless acknowledged he was discouraged by Bush's ever-expanding campaign war chest.

"I remember the words of Chairman Mao: 'It's always darkest before it's totally black,'" he said.

Humor aside, McCain spent most of his time at the Forum explaining his stances on issues, particularly defense and foreign affairs. He promised to reform the U.S. military to make it viable in the "post-Cold War world."

He called for higher salaries for Americans enlisted in the armed forces. Twelve thousand of them, he said, are on food stamps. McCain also called for increased benefits for veterans.

He said he supports the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay soldiers but would be willing to review the policy from time to time.

McCain's foreign policy--which would hopefully be led by Gen. Colin Powell as secretary of state, he said--would "cut down on deployments" around the world. At the same time, he would share missile defense technologies with Russia, despite that nation's controversial war with Chechen separatists.

But McCain said he would push to cut off funding from the International Monetary Fund to Russia if the former communist nation does not relent in its military campaign in Chechnya, calling Russian President Boris Yeltsin a "decrepit president."

The crowd of 1,000 gave McCain a standing ovation as he ended his remarks, and audience reaction was largely positive.

"He's the man," said Aaron B. Siegel '03, a McCain supporter.

Heather A. Woodruff '03, an undecided Republican voter and also a member of the Institute of Politics, said she was impressed by McCain.

"I really liked the way he seemed to be giving me his true opinion, whether I would agree or not," she said.

While Robert R. Porter '02, chair of Harvard Students for Bush, criticized McCain's "unfortunate obsession" with campaign finance reform, McCain seemed to appeal a number of Democrats in the audience.

"Only Bill Bradley could wrest my vote away from McCain now," said M. Jacob Ewart '00, who called himself "historically" a Democrat.

But Marc Stad '01, the president of the College Democrats, had no such warm words for McCain.

"Anyone can come up here and say, 'I want to pay teachers more. I want to lower taxes on millions of Americans,'" said Stad, adding that McCain said he was not optimistic about the surplus. "How practical is this?"