John McCain spent a considerable portion of his news conference in Phoenix last week outlining his presidential campaign’s new efforts to reach Hispanic voters.

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When a reporter asked him if he was worried about a potential backlash from the most conservative segment of his own party, the presumptive Republican nominee shrugged off any concern.

“My party is the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. My party is an inclusive party. My party reaches out to every citizen, every American who shares our views and our optimism and our belief in the principles of this great nation,” McCain said.

“I will seek the vote of every American. I will make sure we go to places where we might not get the majority of the votes. But the job that I have is to reunite America and to make sure that people know that I will be the president of all the people, whether they vote for me or not,” he said.

“Americans are crying for us to work together. I notice that Sen. (Barack) Obama and Sen. (Hillary) Clinton are touting their work in a bipartisan fashion. I will match my record for reaching across the aisle and working with the other party with them any day of the week. It’s far more extensive and far more substantive — and I’m proud of that work,” he said.

Furthermore, his commitment to strong families and small businesses, and his opposition to abortion are platforms that generally appeal to Hispanic voters, he said.

TIGHTER SECURITY NOW

McCain’s airport news conference on Monday marked a new, higher-security affair than reporters in his home state had come to expect in recent months.

Previously, McCain spent a about a half hour doing freewheeling Q&A sessions with members of the local media and the traveling national media alike before jetting off for campaign work around the country.

The news conferences were simple enough — reporters walked into a large airplane hangar, found a spot among a row or two of folding chairs, and waited for McCain to emerge and take his place at the microphone.

The actual Q&A session last week was unchanged, but the logistics had been given a wholesale security upgrade.

The location had been changed from a wide-open hangar to a more confined conference room. Furthermore, McCain’s public relations team asked reporters to show up earlier than usual and noted that access to the conference room would be restricted a half hour before its start.

Long before McCain arrived, a police officer with an explosives-sniffing dog showed up. The officer instructed the dog to sniff every camera bag, every computer bag, every suitcase and every backpack in the room.

The dog, which was black and had a long droopy tongue, stuck its head deep into every bag in the room. The officer apologized for the drool it left behind.

For good measure, the dog also sniffed curtains, furniture, cabinets and art.

Then, Secret Service agents ushered all the reporters and even McCain’s staff members out of the room. The agents wanded every person one by one with a portable metal detector before readmitting them into the room.

The federal agents patted down or visually inspected everything that beeped, plus belt buckles, pocket bulges, waistlines and ankles.

Presidential security sometimes is a tricky matter, too.

Last week, invitations to a fundraiser featuring President Bush began circulating around the state. The event is designed to bolster the coffers of McCain’s campaign and several other GOP political committees.

While the invitations clearly stated that Bush was set to headline the May 27 event at the Phoenix Convention Center, McCain’s campaign spokesman declined comment about anything having to do with Bush.