"It's clear that there is not unified support," Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch told me last week. "There's no question about it. However, the one thing I have seen -- the more people have a chance to know the biography and stance of Senator McCain, the more they are coming into that camp and saying, 'Hey, this could be a good candidate after all. ' "

Huebsch probably knows better than anyone the mind-set of GOP loyalists in Wisconsin. Huebsch has put about 4,000 miles on his car in recent weeks traveling across the state to speak at Lincoln Day dinners, which are annual party-building functions.

Huebsch doesn't sugarcoat McCain 's chances this fall: "As a Republican, there's no question it's a difficult year. "

Yet because of that, McCain is the GOP's best shot.

"In the climate we're in here in 2008, and the issues that are before us, we could not have had a better candidate in this situation than John McCain," Huebsch said. "He will appeal to those independents. I don 't think another person -- certainly who ran for president, or another individual in my party -- could have given us that opportunity."

Huebsch was initially down on McCain because of his strong association with U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. I've heard many GOPers in Dane County say the same thing.

McCain's support for campaign finance reform was hard enough for them to stomach. But his tight partnership with a liberal Democrat from suburban Madison was viscerally worse.

Here is Huebsch's take: "McCain is a maverick to a point that it's not necessarily Barry Goldwater maverick, it's maverick in a direction I don't always agree with."

Yet for many independents like me, McCain's tie to Feingold is a plus. It suggests McCain can lift Washington out of its partisan rut.

McCain also is one of the few politicians (Feingold is another) who reject all budget earmarks on principle.

I appreciate that McCain is not on the front lines of the endless and draining culture wars. Instead, McCain wants to fix the nation's financial mess, even if that means popular programs must be trimmed and tax giveaways plugged.

McCain joined Bush in a push to adopt sensible immigration policy based on reality instead of rhetoric. Most Republicans didn't like that. But a lot of independents did.

In fact, I seem to like McCain for all the reasons many conservatives don't. And that's a big reason for conservatives to now be happy McCain is their guy.

Milfred is editorial page editor for the State Journal; smilfred@madison.com or 608-252-6110.