"We've changed the face of American politics forever," contended McCain, even as his 2000 star faded.

The Arizona senator's strategy took him to upset victories against George W. Bush, even if his campaign ultimately fell to the weight of the Republican establishment.

"This was a high-wire act from the beginning," McCain said. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

He challenged conventional wisdom both in tactics and execution, starting by skipping Iowa's leadoff caucuses to focus instead on New Hampshire's primary. He wasn't the first politician to try that gambit, but he was far more successful than anyone before.

While Bush was earning a solid win in Iowa, McCain spent his time putting together a New Hampshire coalition, appealing to independents and even Democrats to join him as he rolled across the state in his "Straight Talk Express" bus.

Focusing on campaign finance reform and campaigning as a maverick outsider, he offered a message ideally suited to New Hampshire's electorate. Indeed, his appeal to non-Republicans helped produce record primary turnouts in state after state.

His lopsided victory in New Hampshire rocked Bush's hopes of coasting to the nomination. But it also may have planted some seeds of McCain's own destruction. He argued that the heart of his campaign was the style in which he and top aides decided strategy on the fly.

It was in that mode that, under fire from religious conservatives, McCain decided to confront two leaders of that movement in a speech in Virginia Beach, Va. He labeled them "agents of intolerance."

Many religious conservatives saw the speech as an attack on them and the issue came to dominate the closing days of the Virginia campaign. McCain lost badly there.

He and his aides said the speech will stand the test of time.

"No matter how things turn out, that speech will be my proudest moment of this campaign," said aide Mark Salter, who wrote it.

"I had to do it," said McCain. "It was about where the party is going."

It was the aftermath of that speech that underscored another McCain vulnerability. He bantered constantly with reporters on his campaign bus, giving the media access never before seen in a serious presidential campaign and gaining generally positive coverage.

But that access also proved to be a two-edged sword. As his campaign struggled to shift the message away from the religious controversy, McCain used one of those bantering sessions to label some religious conservative leaders "agents of evil."

That caused another sensation, and though McCain insisted he had been joking, explaining his remarks dominated the campaign debate for days and gave Bush the opportunity to label him divisive.

McCain said he wanted to talk about campaign finance reform and saving Social Security, but he never quite got back to those issues.

There were other tactical decisions that were quickly made and then unmade. Under fire from Bush in South Carolina, McCain initially fired back by comparing the Texan to President Clinton.

He quickly backed off, jerking all of his attack ads and only running positive spots after Bush began complaining and getting a good response. Bush responded with a verbal assault over the airwaves that McCain didn't answer, allowing Bush's commercials to define him in the minds of many voters.

Still, McCain's campaign didn't give up its hard edges altogether.

He seized on Bush's visit to Bob Jones University to begin a huge phone bank effort telling Michigan voters of that school's anti-Catholic bent.

Helped by the votes of independents and Democrats, McCain scored a solid win in Michigan's primary, giving his campaign yet another boost.

As "Super Tuesday" neared, McCain found himself off balance again, as he came under fire from outside groups over his record on the environment. Angry over the ads -- he said they were clearly linked to the Bush campaign -- he said the episode underscored everything he had been saying about campaign finances.

"If they get away with it, it will change the nature of American politics," McCain said.

But the heated exchanges toward the end muddied the campaign's message, and ended the view of many that McCain was above traditional politics.

McCain had a clear impact on the campaign. Voter turnout which has been on the decline shot up in some of the more contested primaries, and there was a sense of urgency in the air.

Some polls showed up to a quarter of the electorate would back McCain as an independent, leaving him a formidable force in GOP politics. He firmly ruled out any sort of independent bid.

"A majority of Americans are looking for something they haven't had in a while," McCain said. "I can't tell you how proud I am to have sparked this kind of prairie fire out there that's getting people involved."