PORTLAND – If Sen. John McCain runs for president in 2008, he can count on fellow Republican Susan Collins to serve as one of his Senate advisers.

A spokesman for Collins said McCain asked her whether she would be one of his advisers if he decides to seek the White House. The spokesman, Kevin Kelley, said Collins told McCain that she would.

The Arizona senator is regarded as a likely potential candidate for the Republican nomination.

McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani have been at or near the top of virtually every national poll of likely GOP presidential contenders.

McCain and Collins are part of the “Gang of 14” – centrist senators who brokered a deal last year to keep Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist from banning judicial filibusters.

They have worked together on a number of issues, including legislation to promote research on climate change and the increase in heat-trapping “greenhouse gases” accumulating in the atmosphere. And they’ve participated in several overseas trips.

McCain lost a battle for the GOP nomination in 2000 to President Bush and was coy in his comments about making another try last year at Maine Maritime Academy.

Last April, when he spoke at the academy’s commencement in Castine, McCain faced the usual questions about whether he’ll run for president in 2008. He responded by joking that he was being pressured by Collins to announce whether he’ll run.

“Senator Collins calls me every morning and every evening and urges me to do so,” McCain said. “But I’m going to wait a couple of years and then make a decision.”