US President George W Bush has anointed one-time bitter rival John McCain as his preferred successor and heir to the vastly unpopular Iraq war and deepening economic fears.

''He's going to win,'' said Bush, who shook McCain's hand, clapped him on the shoulder, and kissed his wife Cindy as the presumptive Republican party nominee arrived at the White House on a chilly, windy day.

It was not clear how Bush, whose approval ratings lie at near record lows with ten months left in his term, would help the man he defeated for the Republican party's nomination in 2000.

''The President will give his full-throated endorsement to Senator McCain,'' said Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino, but ''I don't think there's any one thing that we can point to that is the number one thing that President Bush can do.''

The President was expected to try to rally skeptical Republicans behind McCain, raise some of the millions of dollars that are the lifeblood of US campaigns, and work to help the party recapture the US Congress, aides said.

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