McCain: Primary scramble won't affect his campaign

MERRIMACK, N.H. --Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Thursday that his campaign strategy won't change if the first votes in the 2008 presidential election are cast in 2007.

Reacting to South Carolina's announcement of its Jan. 19 GOP primary date, McCain said he doesn't agree with the accelerated pace of the nominating calendar, but supports New Hampshire's tradition of holding the first primary.

Because New Hampshire law requires the primary to be held at least a week before any similar contest, South Carolina's means New Hampshire could vote in early January and Iowa as early as December.

"I don't think it's particularly healthy, but I think whatever needs to be done to preserve New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status needs to be done," McCain told reporters after a town hall meeting.

"I don't have control over this movement of various primary dates, but if there were a state ahead of New Hampshire, except for the Iowa caucuses, I wouldn't go there," he said, adding that he finds the prospect of choosing a nominee in February "bizarre."

McCain, who won the New Hampshire primary in 2000 before losing the nomination to President Bush, has been losing support in the early primary state, falling behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in recent polls. But he enjoyed a strong turnout Thursday night as he arrived for three days of campaigning around the state.

Speaking at a crowded community center, McCain offered a newly update version of his stump speech, swapping out his usual comments on global warming to highlight his recent focus on property rights.

He criticized a 2005 Supreme Court decision giving local governments broad power to seize private property to generate tax revenue and praised New Hampshire for responding last year by amending its constitution to prohibit such takings.

"This Supreme Court decision was a dangerous one. In New Hampshire, they acted to amend their state constitution, in other states they did as well. We've got to make sure every state in America is protected, every citizen is protected from taking of their property," he said.

McCain said he fears a federal court will override the state constitutions. If that happens, he said he would support a federal constitutional amendment on the issue.

Arriving about half an hour late because of a delayed flight, McCain moved quickly to open the forum to audience questions. In several cases, he made a point of telling questioners who asked him to commit to certain spending levels for their favorite causes that money was not the only answer.

"I think it's more than just money, I think it's behavior," he told a woman who wanted him to promise $50 billion over five years to fight HIV/AIDS in other countries. McCain said he doesn't think the Bush administration gets enough credit for what it has down to stop the epidemic, but said the focus should be on urging governments in those countries act more responsibility.

Likewise, he told a young mother that relieving the debt of developing nations isn't the only way to improve education opportunities for children overseas. She argued that relieving such debt would allow other nations to put more money in education, but McCain said he would focus on reducing corruption in foreign governments.

"I'm for relieving their debts but only in exchange for commitments and real action in cleaning up the corruption," he said.