WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain, trying to solidify his support among conservatives amid resolute competition from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, won the endorsement yesterday of former President George Bush.

Welcoming what he called "an old friend back to Texas," Bush called McCain - who served as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War and was captured and tortured by the North Vietnamese - "a remarkable patriot."

"Few men walking among us have sacrificed so much in the cause of human freedom," the former president said, and McCain has "the right values and experience to guide our nation forward at this historic moment."

Asked about conservative unease with McCain, the 41st president read from the diaries of former President Reagan, who also was assailed by the right during his presidency for being "a turncoat." Bush dismissed conservative criticism of McCain as "an unfair attack" and said the Arizona senator has "a sound conservative record but not above reaching out to the other side."

For his part, McCain, who has parted company with conservatives on immigration, taxes and campaign finance, said he welcomed the endorsement and hoped it would help him rally the party behind him to begin waging a battle against Democrats.

"We as a party must unite and move forward and attract not only members of our own party but independents and so-called Reagan Democrats," McCain said, adding that Democrats had been wrong when they said the surge in Iraq would not work and should be held accountable for their position.

As McCain worked to tighten his hold on the Republican nomination, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were battling it out for votes ahead of today's Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries.

Polls suggest that the Democrats' Wisconsin race is close. Clinton made last-minute changes in her schedule yesterday so she would spend all day campaigning there, instead of leaving early as originally planned. Obama's wife, Michelle, was scheduled to campaign from Milwaukee to the Minnesota border, while her husband planned a rally in Wisconsin last night. He spent much of yesterday in Ohio, a key state in the March 4 primaries.

At St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., the Clinton campaign unveiled a new weapon: a 13-page pamphlet outlining her plans to fix the economy.

The pamphlet, given to people attending a rally in the college gym, details Clinton's plans for universal health care, a freeze on mortgage foreclosures and the creation of millions of "green- collar jobs," popular positions in that Rust Belt state.

The pamphlet features a populist pitch that seems aimed squarely at the working-class voters she badly needs in Wisconsin, Ohio and eventually Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22.

"Over the past seven years, big corporations and special interests have been given a free pass to profit, often at the expense of the American worker," reads the pamphlet, to be distributed to voters at Clinton's campaign rallies. "As president, Hillary will make it a priority to scale back special benefits and subsidies to these corporations and put those resources to work for our economy again."

Johanna Neuman writes for the Los Angeles Times. McClatchy-Tribune contributed to this article.