RINDGE – Making people mad is a good thing, presidential hopeful John McCain said yesterday in a speech aimed at playing up the Arizona senator's outsider reputation.

"I didn't seek public office to go along to get along," McCain said, trying to remind voters of the "maverick" label that helped him defeat then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in New Hampshire in 2000. "I went to Washington to get something done for the people who sent me there. And since then, I know I've made some people angry."

McCain said Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has done everything she can to land on the popular side of most issues.

"On the one hand, Senator Clinton says we can't abandon Iraq to al-Qaida and the influence of Iran. On the other, she wants a firm deadline for withdrawal that would do just that," McCain said. "Senator Clinton rejected unconditional talks with Iran, but now says she would negotiate with no preconditions."

"I'm the conservative Republican with the best chance of defeating Senator Clinton, or whomever the Democrats nominate, and take on the challenges that confront us," the Arizona Republican said. "I'm as committed today as when I first put on the uniform of our country to the cause that has been the work of my life: the interests and ideals of our country."

McCain in recent days has urged a respectful debate with Clinton -- whom he expects the Democratic Party to nominate -- and challenged his rivals to stop taking cheap shots at the New York senator.