ARLINGTON, S.C. - He is trying to get beyond it, but so far, it just won't go away.
Stuggling to regain his focus after last week's advertising war, and to reinvigorate the outsider image that brought him success in New Hampshire, Senator John McCain did some old-fashioned door knocking in a quaint Florence neighborhood yesterday morning.
But when McCain, trailed by a legion of garden-trampling reporters, knocked on his first door, the owner had discomfiting news: Someone had called him on the pretext of doing a poll but let loose with attacks on the Arizona senator instead.
It was just the latest episode of ''push-polling,'' in which a caller acts as if he were conducting a poll, but instead pushes his message or candidate. Sniping over the issue with George W. Bush has been dominating McCain's days, drowning out his policy comments and detracting from his effort to appear as a new kind of politician.
''What happened to the debate about education, about telecommunications, about Medicare, about Social Security? Whatever happened to that?'' a frustrated McCain said aboard his bus. ''I'm the one who gave the policy speeches last week. I'm not attacking him. I spend my time responding to the daily Bush talking points.''
And when McCain got off his bus at his next stop, the Darlington Raceway, resident Ed Cheek was waiting to tell him that he, too, had been push-polled. Three days ago, somebody had called to tell him McCain was too much like President Clinton. Cheek said he had called Bush's Columbia, S.C., campaign office to complain.
Bush has flatly denied that his campaign has engaged in any push-polling, and at a news conference yesterday in Orangeburg, S.C., Bush said his supporters also had been victims of underhanded telephone tactics.
Callers posing as Bush campaign workers had been rude to voters in an attempt to turn them off the candidate, the Texas governor said. He said callers had cursed at residents, and left a number for Bush's Virginia campaign office.
''I'm not making any accusations whatsoever,'' Bush said, when asked who he thought might be responsible. ''I just know it's not someone for me.''
He said the campaign was trying to trace the calls and to convince those who had received them to notify the media. ''We are on full alert,'' he said. ''This is not helping my campaign.''
McCain spokesman Todd Harris scoffed at the idea that his campaign could be connected to such calls. ''Unlike the Bush campaign, we have to operate within the federal limits,'' he said. ''We don't have the money to hire armies of phone bankers to make calls like that, nor would we want to.''
While the charges and countercharges are exchanged, the dispute is threatening to put McCain off stride.
During the Darlington town hall meeting, which was held in a tent by the raceway and attended by 200 people, a much smaller crowd than he usually draws, McCain was distracted, and for most of the time, lacked his usual energy. However, that returned to him later in the day, when he appeared before a fervent crowd of 1,200 in Fort Mill.
Again, the issue arose when a 20-year-old woman began to cry as she told of being push-polled last Thursday. She ended by saying, ''I just want to say I believe in you.''
Aboard the campaign bus, McCain accused Bush of launching attacks because ''He's lost the battle of the major issues.'' He said Bush's strategy lately had been simply to imitate him. ''The next thing you know, he'll be moving to Arizona,'' he quipped.
Bush aides have accused McCain of feigning moral outrage over negative campaigning to distract the public from inconsistencies between his words and deeds.
In an effort to get his campaign back on track, McCain on Friday withdrew his most aggressive televison ad, which accused Bush of ''(twisting) the truth like Clinton,'' and said he hoped his opponent would do likewise. The Bush campaign denied that its ads were out of bounds and refuses to alter them.
McCain said he realizes that running only positive advertisements from now on could cost him politically.
''We're rolling the dice,'' he said. ''But at the end of this campaign, I'm very interested, and committed, to having my kids proud of the campaign.''
McCain has often said he fears the sniping will turn off voters. But on Brunwood Drive, where McCain took his huge entourage door to door, at least two voters were unperturbed.
''He'll let his warts show,'' said Steven Coker, 36. ''He's not afraid to voice his opinion. He wants to do what he feels is right. I think we need a veteran in the White House.''
''I like to see a little street fight from time to time,'' said his brother, Chris Coker, also of Darlington. ''Let's see what these guys are made of.''
