Both the campaigns of Sen. Jon Kyl and Democratic rival Jim Pederson have cited Sen. John McCain to bolster their positions.

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In the push to define themselves to voters, U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl and Democratic challenger Jim Pederson have resorted to all types of tactics.

They have attacked each other in television ads, held rallies and town hall meetings to drum up support, and even spent much of last week inaccurately describing each other as supporting the A-word: amnesty.

But in a trend that is playing out across the nation this election season, the two have also drawn on the record of popular U.S. Sen. John McCain to bolster their own credentials. Each has aired commercials citing McCain, and they often refer to him during interviews.

In an election cycle when President Bush's popularity has hovered near 40 percent and there is a strong anti-incumbent sentiment, Republican candidates have turned to McCain's name and image as the endorsement of choice. Meanwhile, Democratic candidates have turned to images of Bush as a way to tap into voter dissatisfaction.

Craig Goldman, executive director of Straight Talk America, McCain's political action committee, said that in the coming weeks he expects hundreds of requests for McCain to do mailers, television advertisements and personal appearances.

"He is a very popular person in America," Goldman said. "He knows, and he has said this time and time again, that in order to get anything done in Washington you have to reach across the aisle."

To see McCain lend his name and image to Kyl is hardly a surprise. Not only do the two share party and state affiliations, but McCain has endorsed Kyl and is serving as his campaign chairman.

Kyl often notes that he and McCain vote together "86 percent of the time" as a way to connect their records and build on McCain's image as a moderate conservative and consensus builder.

And when Pederson ran an ad characterizing Kyl as beholden to oil interests, the Kyl campaign responded with an ad featuring McCain as a way to dismiss the allegations.

"Senator John McCain says the attacks on Jon Kyl's voting record are dead wrong," the ad states as an image shows the two shaking hands.

"To some extent Senator McCain is seen as a sort of arbiter in American politics on campaign spending," Kyl said in a telephone interview Friday. "And that's one reason I was especially appreciative when he specifically told Pederson to stop attacking my integrity."

Although not endorsed by McCain, Pederson has regularly referenced the senator's name.

Often, this is done on votes where Kyl and McCain have split. For example, Pederson cites McCain in a recent commercial critical of Kyl's immigration plan, which calls for mandatory departure for the nation's roughly 12 million illegal entrants.

"Senator McCain says Jon Kyl's immigration plan 'borders on fantasy,' " Pederson states in the ad.

During the recent amnesty spat between the candidates, Pederson reiterated this point, telling reporters that his views on immigration are similar to McCain's and that the two are friends.

Mark Bergman, Pederson's campaign spokesman, said the campaign cites McCain because he "follows that tradition of working together to get things done for the state of Arizona. … Jim Pederson is going to go to Washington to be a problem solver."

However, the references and imagery are more complicated than that, said Fred Solop, a political science professor at Northern Arizona University and director of the Social Research Lab, where he does polling.

Immigration is by far the most important issue to Arizona voters this election cycle, Solop said. By using McCain's name in the immigration debate, Pederson is driving a "wedge" between Kyl and Republican voters.

Of course, McCain isn't the only theme in this year's election advertisements. In addition to Democrats using Bush's image to tap into voter frustration, Solop pointed to numerous ads in which candidates appear in oversized cowboy hats or on horseback in the desert as a way to display their Arizona roots.

Such advertisements, albeit hokey, can leave lasting impressions.

"For some people, TV ads are all they learn about the candidates," Solop said. "The imagery that is promoted in these ads stick with us at a visceral level."

With about six weeks left in this year's election, much remains up in the air. One thing, however, is certain: In this year's ads, McCain is king.

"He is one of the most, if not the most, prominent Republican figures nationally and has strong support among Democrats and independents," Kyl said. "It is not at all surprising to me, and I think that's a testament to how significant John McCain has become as a figure on the national stage in politics."