OS ANGELES - What a difference a few primaries make.
Back before the first votes were ever cast, George W. Bush and John McCain had only the warmest of words for one another. At debates, they referred to each other as friends, and when they saw each other they hugged. Never was a critical word exchanged.
''I just think I would make a better president,'' was the worst that McCain could muster. Usually, he would say of his rival: ''I think he's a very fine and decent person who's been a good governor.''
For his part, Bush repeatedly praised McCain as a hero. ''John is a good man. I do think his story is compelling,'' Bush has said.
No more. Since they left New Hampshire behind, enmity has replaced cordiality. Each man has a long list of grievances against the other. And last night, as the two met in their final debate before Tuesday's primary blitz, they were literally 2,000 miles apart - a gap that spoke as much to the state of their relationship as to geography.
When asked this week about the status of the friendship, Bush was cool and clipped: ''That's something I'll have to reassess after the primary is over.''
McCain's political director, John Weaver, also spoke to the tundra that now separates the two.
''From the campaign's perspective, what once started as casual friendliness and mutual respect has turned into distrust and complete lack of respect,'' Weaver said.
And all speculation about a possible Bush-McCain or McCain-Bush ticket is over.
''I can say John would refuse absolutely, completely, categorically refuse'' to be Bush's running mate, said a senior campaign official.
Nor would McCain, if he snags the nomination, be inclined to ask Bush to serve.
''There are a lot of other governors who have [better] records,'' the official said.
But the major breach came as the two campaigned in South Carolina. A veteran, J. Thomas Burch Jr., stood by Bush's side and accused McCain - a prisoner of war in North Vietnam - of abandoning veterans on Agent Orange and the Gulf War Syndrome.
''He came home and he forgot us,'' said Burch, chairman of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Coalition.
It was an affront that angered McCain. ''I gave him a pass on the National Guard and now he comes after me on this,'' McCain said at the time, referring to Bush's stateside service during the war.
Bush, on the other hand, reacted with outrage when McCain launched a television commercial comparing him to President Clinton and accusing him of breaking a handshake agreement not to run negative ads.
Said Bush: ''That's about as low a blow as you can get in the Republican primary.''
On a daily basis since, the back-and-forth continues to take on an increasingly emotional tenor with every charge ratcheting up the palpable dislike between the two as they argue over phone banks, push-polling, fliers, and political ads.
In the final days of the primary contest, there is little hope of a let-up. The Bush campaign began running a radio ad in New York accusing McCain of opposing federal funds for breast cancer research, which caused McCain, once again, to react with dismay.
Yesterday, McCain was even sharper, for fear voters would believe he is uncaring about cancer: ''Governor Bush, get out of the gutter.''
