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PHOENIX — The prime goal of President Bush's visit here Tuesday was to raise money for John McCain. The second was to do it quietly.

By the end of the day, it appeared he'd succeeded at both.

A private fundraiser attended by nearly 500 people was expected to have generated millions for the campaign, possibly more than $3.5 million, said Tucsonan Mike Hellon, a co-chair of McCain's Arizona campaign.

And unlike Bush's previous visits to the state — arranged to highlight new policies or his support for fellow Republicans in the full glow of the media spotlight — this four-hour stop was a relatively guarded one.

The president's tour of a local manufacturing company was fast, and access was limited, even to the news media.

And the McCain fundraiser was completely closed — underlining, critics said, the struggle the Arizona senator and presumptive GOP presidential nominee faces running in the shadow of an unpopular president.

The visit began at around 2:15 p.m., when Bush landed at Sky Harbor International Airport and was greeted by U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, U.S. Rep. Trent Franks and state Senate President Tim Bee, a Tucson Republican and congressional candidate.

McCain was not present at the landing or at a subsequent tour Bush took of a Mesa manufacturing firm, Silverado Cable Co., according to the pool reporter from the East Valley Tribune, one of the small number of Arizona journalists selected to attend.

The firm produces custom wire harnesses and cable assemblies, and Bush used the tour to tout his tax cuts and economic stimulus package. The company says those policies have helped generate revenue during the sluggish national economy.

"When you hear these politicians saying we are going to raise taxes, only just on the rich people, they are taxes on companies like Silverado," Bush said after a 20-minute tour of the factory. "What you don't want to do is take money out of the treasuries of these small businesses across America."

Bush used the opportunity to make the case for keeping the tax cuts in place, a position McCain has embraced after initially being critical of the cuts during a time a war.

"I strongly urge the United States Congress to make the tax relief we passed permanent so that companies such as Silverado don't have to worry about what their tax burden is going to be in two years time," Bush said.

From there, Bush went to host the McCain fundraiser at the Phoenix home of Jack and Dodie Londen. Dodie Londen was the first chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party. Jack Londen, a real estate and insurance mogul, served as a GOP National Committee member. The basic price for the event was $1,000. For a couple to attend a VIP reception with the president, the cost was $25,000.

The money is to be split among the McCain campaign, the Republican National Committee and possibly Republican organizations in four other states.

Attendees described the event as "low-key," with Bush and McCain telling stories from the 2000 election.

By 6:10 p.m., Air Force One was in the air over Phoenix.

The relationship between Bush and McCain has been a complex one. They competed for the 2000 GOP presidential nomination.

While Democrats have sought to portray McCain as Bush-like, McCain was critical of the president's strategy in Iraq, calling for more troops years before the White House took notice.

The event Tuesday was the first time the two men had appeared together since March 5, when the president endorsed McCain in the White House's Rose Garden.

Originally, the Tuesday event had been planned for the Phoenix Convention Center, but it was later moved in an attempt to make it more private, the campaign said. However, Democrats claimed it was due to a lack of ticket sales — or to avoid planned protests.

While Bush's low approval ratings have dipped — down to 28 percent in most polls — he remains a powerful fundraiser for Republicans. Still, his unpopularity gave Democrats the opportunity to tie the president to McCain.

The Arizona Democratic Party organized two protests — one near the Mesa manufacturing company he visited and another near downtown Phoenix.

Outside Phoenix's historic City Hall building, about 200 demonstrators rallied against the visit. Organizers held signs such as "McW," "Two peas in a pod," and "John McCain is living proof that George Bush has been cloned."

Tucsonan Lon Huber, a 21-year-old University of Arizona student, drove up to Phoenix for the event. He said it appears McCain is clearly aligning himself with Bush for financial gain.

"They were such bitter enemies," said Huber, a public policy senior. "Bush slandered him back in 2000. I guess the party is more important than the issues facing the country. He's bending towards Bush to get his support, and we don't like anyone without a backbone."

And Democrats hope McCain wasn't the only one making more from Bush's visit. The party sought to collect $12,500 in contributions in the days leading up to the visit.

Supporters, however, said Democratic efforts to tie McCain to Bush are a stretch.

"That's all they've got to work with," Hellon said. "Even the American people know John McCain well enough that they know that he's not George Bush."

The private fundraiser followed a weekend retreat McCain had at his home near Sedona with three prospects for his vice presidential running mate.

The guests included Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and a rival of McCain's earlier during the GOP nomination campaign.

Bush's previous Arizona visits have been open to the media. In October 2006, Bush hosted a $500-a-person fundraiser for now-indicted U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi in Paradise Valley, followed by the signing of a bill appropriating money to fight illegal immigration. Both events were open to the press.

A few months earlier, in May 2006, Bush toured the U.S.-Mexico border near Yuma and delivered a speech to a small room of state officials and reporters. In 2005, he visited Tucson to pitch his Social Security reform package, which never passed.