Bush says McCain needs to win over conservatives

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Sunday told conservative members of his Republican Party that White House hopeful Sen. John McCain needed to do some work to win them over but he was a "true conservative."

Bush also took a direct shot at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, questioning his foreign policy by pointing to the senator's support for direct talks with Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and potentially attacking Pakistan.

Bush has previously stayed out of the primary fight and tried to avoid calling McCain, an Arizona senator, the presumptive party nominee despite his commanding lead among delegates over his closest rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

"If John is the nominee, he has got some convincing to do to convince people that he is a solid conservative and I'll be glad to help him if he is the nominee," Bush said in a television interview with Fox News Sunday.

He also warned Republicans that they would not find a perfect candidate. "You'll never find that person," Bush said.

Some conservative Republicans like James Dobson, the founder of the conservative advocacy group Focus on the Family, have said they would not support McCain because of his support for campaign finance reform and embryonic stem cell research.

"He is a conservative. Look, he is very strong on national defense, he is tough fiscally, he believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent, he is pro-life," Bush said. "His principles are sound and solid as far as I'm concerned."

Bush took aim at the Democratic presidential hopefuls, focusing directly on Obama, an Illinois senator who has been gaining momentum in the state-by-state fight with rival Sen. Hillary Clinton for their party's nomination.

"I certainly don't know what he believes in," Bush said. "The only foreign policy thing I remember he said was that he's going to attack Pakistan and embrace Ahmadinejad."

A spokeswoman for Obama was not immediately available for comment.

Obama, who is seeking to become the first black president, has come under stiff criticism from Republicans and Clinton for saying he would meet with the Iranian leader if Tehran stopped operations in Iraq and cooperated on nuclear issues.

The United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program, a charge the country has denied.

Bush also offered a defense of former President Bill Clinton for his attacks against Obama in his campaigning for his wife Hillary, who is seeking to become the first woman U.S. president.

"Those accusations that Bill Clinton's a racist I think has been wrong. I just don't agree with it," Bush said.

(Editing by David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/