[img_assist|nid=514|title=U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during a town hall meeting in Philadelphia|desc=|link=none|align=middle|width=410|height=240]PHILADELPHIA - U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) brought his presidential campaign to Pennsylvania today, addressing supporters and answering their questions at a town hall meeting at the National Constitution Center.

Philadelphia was a curious choice for McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, to open his general election campaign in Pennsylvania. Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 5-1 in this liberal hotbed, and even urban Republicans often tend to lean Democratic. He will almost certainly lose the city by huge margins, with some pollsters analysts telling PolitickerPA.com that his opponent, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) could rack up as much as a whopping 85 percent of the city's votes.

But from the moment he took the stage to raucous applause from his supporters, McCain made it clear he wouldn't be ceding ground in the city or the state.

"Let me assure you, we will compete and win in the state of Pennsylvania," he said.

McCain spoke for about 25 minutes and answered questions for another 25, with topics running the gamut of policy issues from foreign policy and health care to the economy and crime. He reiterated his challenge to Obama to join him in 10 town hall meetings throughout the summer, and even revived the primary season controversy over remarks Obama made about rural Pennsylvanias.

"I'm going to visit the small towns and I'm going tell them I don't agree with Sen. Obama that they cling to guns and religion because they're bitter," he said.

And he also renewed what has been a central pitch of his in Pennsylvania -- reaching out to disillusioned supporters of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), who lost to Obama in the primary.

"Those supporters of Sen. Clinton I welcome here today," he said.
Later, asked how he would reach out to Clinton's supporters, he said: "The American people didn't get to know me yesterday. As they know, I have always put my country first and party second."

But he mostly used the occasion to continue drawing the contrasts between him and Obama that seem increasingly likely to define the general election campaign: the economy and the Iraq war. McCain's campaign has been railing against Obama's tax plans in recent days, and today was no different.

"I don't have to tell you what tough times we're in, and we need to keep taxes low," he said. "Why on earth would anyone consider raising taxes in such trying times?"

He insisted that Iraq remains the central front in the war on terrorism, and chastised Obama for wanting to withdraw troops.

"We face the threat of Islamic extremism," he said. "It is a transcendent evil. ... It's hard to encompass how evil this radical extremism is. Have no doubt that they want to destroy everything we have and believe in.

[img_assist|nid=515|title=McCain stumps at Philadelphia's National Constitition Center|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=350]"Every casualty is something that pains us and grieves us," he added. "But the consequences of failure would be genocide and chaos in the region."

And criticizing Obama's plan to raise some taxes, he defended the Bush administration's tax cuts, which he once opposed but now favors extending.

"My friends, it's not revenues that were harmed by the tax cuts," he said. "It's spending that got out of control."

Obama is scheduled to be in town Friday for a closed-door fundraiser, and both candidates are expected to make frequent appearances throughout the state leading up to November. While the state has gradually been leaning Democratic in recent years, it remains a critical swing state.