When Sen. John McCain spoke Saturday at Liberty University, his message for graduating students offered barely a hint of the rift with its founder, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, and other religious conservatives that had undermined his presidential bid in 2000.

McCain told the graduates that he supported the right to disagree amid a tone of mutual respect - just what the Arizona Republican and evangelical Christian leader said they would do after reconciling differences from the sometimes bitter nominating campaign.

"Americans deserve more than tolerance from one another," said McCain, who is expected to seek the GOP nomination in 2008. Political observers considered his address to the 2,458-member Class of 2006 an opportunity for McCain to shore up support among conservative voters.

"We deserve each other's respect," he continued, "whether we think each other right or wrong in our views, as long as our character and our sincerity merit respect, and as long as we share, for all our differences, for all the noisy debates that enliven our politics, a mutual devotion to the sublime idea that this nation was conceived in - that freedom is the inalienable right of mankind, and in accord with the laws of nature and nature's creator."

McCain specifically referred to disagreements over the war in Iraq, noting that the war "has taken innocent life" while standing his ground in support of it because he believed "my country's interests and values required it."

For years a political divide separated McCain and Falwell after the Baptist preacher threw his support to George W. Bush in 2000. At the time, McCain labeled Falwell and others on the right and the left as "agents of intolerance."

The two settled their differences last fall while still acknowledging that they disagreed about some issues. McCain said recently that he no longer considers Falwell an agent of intolerance. Falwell has said no apologies were asked or offered.

On Saturday, McCain received a standing ovation from the capacity crowd of 10,000 in the university's Vines Center. Falwell awarded McCain an honorary doctorate of humanities and praised the sacrifices he made for the country as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

The evangelist has denied that his invitation to McCain to be Liberty's commencement speaker meant he was supporting him for president in 2008. Should McCain be the GOP nominee, however, Falwell has said he could support him.

The two disagree over how to respond to gay marriage, for example. McCain opposes a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, which Falwell supports.

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