MINNEAPOLIS — Presumptive GOP nominee John McCain needs to use the rest of the Republican National Convention to reemphasize his maverick side and show how he'll govern differently from President Bush in order to appeal to independent and undecided voters, pollsters said.

That was the consensus among two pollsters and a polling analyst at this morning's discussion on the state of the campaign sponsored by National Journal and several other organizations, including CUNA.

"He can pull it off. There is a sense among Republicans that the old McCain should come back. He'll have to play to his strengths which show off that he is a different kind of Republican," said Brent McGoldrick, vice president of Financial Dynamics, a Washington-based research and polling firm.