McCain returns to N.H., scene of key triumphs

John McCain and Senator Joseph Lieberman (left) of Connecticut as they arrived yesterday in Exeter, N.H. (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)

EXETER, N.H. - Welcome back, John.

Two months after New Hampshire gave Senator John McCain his shot at the Republican nomination, McCain returned to the state yesterday to give thanks.

"Please stop before I get a little emotional," he said, trying to quiet the sustained applause that greeted him on stage at the Exeter Town Hall.

It was something of a homecoming event, and, fittingly, it took the form of a town hall meeting, which has been McCain's favorite setting to engage voters since his winning primary campaign here in 2000.

He hosted more than 100 of them in the Granite State during his remarkable comeback in this year's GOP primary race.

"This guy may claim he is from Arizona, but he loves these town meetings like he's a New Englander!" said Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, a top McCain supporter and former Democrat who often campaigns with the Arizona senator.

McCain offered brief remarks and took a few questions, but the point of his visit was more celebratory - even nostalgic - than anything else.

Many voters who spoke were more interested in thanking him than actually asking a question.

One man walked right up to the stage to shake McCain's hand and praise his bipartisan spirit.

McCain took pains to thank former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and other vanquished rivals for the GOP nomination, and he expressed confidence about the general election.

"We're reuniting our party and we've got to reenergize our party," he said.

Speaking to reporters aboard his "Straight Talk Express" bus afterward, McCain said one thing that had changed from the primary campaign to the general election campaign is the economy has become a graver concern.

"People are hurting," he said, recounting trips across Ohio, Michigan, and other states. "You just get that, graphically."

McCain was asked repeatedly yesterday about his thoughts on a running mate, and about whether he would consider Romney, who told Fox News Tuesday night he would be "honored" to be asked.

McCain said it was too early to talk about potential candidates, but he reiterated that he considered Romney a "fine man."

When a reporter reminded him of his bitter feuds with Romney during the primary race, McCain insisted that, all told, it had been pretty civil. Had he seen worse?

"A lot worse," he said, and then broke into a broad grin. "In fact, I think I may be watching it."

Despite his glee over the heated battle between Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, McCain would not wade into their debate about whether one of them was better prepared to be commander in chief.

"I won't belittle their qualifications, because if they're the nominee of their party, their party has made that judgment," he said.

At the town hall meeting, McCain also addressed recent media reports about his and his campaign advisers' involvement with a controversial $35 billion Air Force tanker contract that went to a European airplane maker.

"It's really one of the more bizarre things I've ever seen in my life," he told voters, saying his efforts had halted a bad deal with Boeing. "I am proud to have saved the taxpayers billions of dollars."

One McCain fan at yesterday's event was Bill Cassidy, a 70-year-old retired insurance manager from Amherst, N.H. Cassidy recalled seeing McCain in Concord a few weeks before the Jan. 8 primary.

"He said, 'If we don't win in New Hampshire, I'm going home,' " said Cassidy, who volunteers for McCain's campaign. "He won, and that was the start of it."

But Cassidy, reflecting the sentiment of some independents and Republicans, said he would have a difficult time deciding who to vote for if Obama is the Democratic nominee.

"I'll definitely vote for [McCain] if Hillary runs," he said. "If Obama runs, I'm going to listen for the next six months."

Before heading to a fund-raiser last night at the Taj Boston hotel, McCain stopped by Pease International Airport in Portsmouth, N.H., where the Pease Greeters, a group of local residents who give warm send-offs and welcomes to members of the military going to or returning from Iraq and other tours of duty, had gathered.

McCain, 71, hopped on top of a baggage carousel and thanked the troops and the greeters for their service.

"He may not be as eloquent a speaker as all of them," said Dennis Lauze, a 56-year-old member of the Pease Greeters from Strafford, N.H. "But he cares."

Not everyone was happy to see McCain yesterday.

Protesters gathered in front of the Exeter Town Hall and tried to cast a McCain presidency as a third term for President Bush.

Some chanted, "Bush-McCain, more of the same." Others raised aloft placards objecting to the cost of the Iraq war - "Iraq: the Trillion Dollar Earmark" - and declaring: "Third Term Bush? New Hampshire says no to McCain."

The protest was part of an aggressive campaign against McCain announced by the AFL-CIO yesterday.

The labor group said it would spend $53 million criticizing him through workplace leafletting, door-knocking, telephone calls, e-mail, direct mail, and an anti-McCain website.

"Everywhere John McCain goes in the coming months, union activists will be there to confront him on his economic positions and plans, and demand that he speak to working families' concerns," said Karen Ackerman, the AFL-CIO's political director.

Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.