McCain Tested by War, Economy in N.H.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain answers a question about the war in Iraq while speaking at a town hall style meeting Friday, March 23, 2007, in Franklin, N.H. (AP Photo/Lee Marriner) (Lee Marriner - AP)

LITTLETON, N.H. -- Republican presidential hopeful John McCain trekked to New Hampshire on Saturday, testing his appeal with rural voters and promising help for economically depressed areas while grappling with questions about the Iraq war.

His latest visit began near the central White Mountains and Lakes Region, where voters' concerns hinged more on domestic troubles _ including meager snowfall _ than the war in Iraq. That was a welcome distraction for the Arizona senator, whose support for the unpopular war is a topic he routinely tries to head off in his opening remarks to voters throughout the region.

"They are frustrated and angry and sad," McCain told reporters traveling with him on his bus. "I understand that. I really do."

At his first town hall-style meeting in Plymouth, he criticized congressional Democrats who on Friday passed a spending bill in the House to end the war in Iraq by September 2008.

"This is one of the most shameful things I've seen in my 24 years in Congress," he said.

He later told a crowd in Littleton he would support the line-item veto.

In Littleton, he faced questions about gun control, abortion rights and immigration _ questions facing all candidates seeking support in the first-in-the-nation primary state.

"I can tell from your body language your anger," McCain said to a resident's immigration question at the Littleton VFW hall. McCain has supported changes in immigration law to balance tougher enforcement with options for dealing with millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States.

"I certainly understand the emotion and the frustration associated with this issue," McCain said.

But voters who live in areas with some of New England's highest unemployment rates wanted to hear how the Arizona senator might fix their sluggish economy and spend the federal budget.

"Can we reallocate some of that money (for the war) ... and throw it into health, education, welfare, environment?" asked Alex Ray, head of a restaurant company.

McCain told him that "the first pork barrel bill that comes across my desk as president, I will veto it and make the author of that bill famous."