ILTON, N.H. - John McCain came yesterday to the New Hampshire Veterans' home here, seeking foot soldiers for his campaign among the old men in wheelchairs, leaning on canes, or straining to hear the speech McCain said he wondered if he should give.
''I'm not sure how appropriate this is on this Veterans Day,'' McCain began, suggesting it was a day too solemn for a political pitch.
The Arizona senator, a Vietnam veteran and presidential candidate, said he came to say thanks to the men who served their country. At his side was Connie Stevens, the entertainer who was a favorite when she visited troops in Korea and Vietnam, and several ''comrades'' who were prisoners of war in Hanoi along with McCain.
A nurse wheeled Carl Jordan, an infantry soldier in World War II, to McCain and told the candidate that Jordan was captured by Germans in 1944 but escaped after 11 days, making his way with the help of the French resistance.
''What did you do for food?'' McCain asked.
Jordan told McCain that he borrowed money from the Swiss Red Cross to buy food from the Italians. After the war, he said, the Red Cross sent him a bill, seeking repayment.
''I hope you didn't pay it!'' McCain laughed.
In his quest for the Republican presidential nomination, McCain is spending much of his time appealing to veterans here for support. With 139,000 former military people in New Hampshire, one of the top states for veterans per capita after South Carolina, he hopes their backing will help him win the first-in-the-nation primary and topple the front-runner, Texas Governor George W. Bush.
A poll of New Hampshire voters released yesterday showed McCain for the first time tied with Bush in the primary race. Bush had 38 percent, compared with 35 percent for McCain, a difference within the poll's 4 percentage point margin of error. The New Hampshire Poll showed men were more likely to favor McCain, while women favored Bush. The poll also showed McCain with the highest favorability rating - 67 percent - among Republicans. Bush's favorability rating dropped to 56 percent from 71 percent in October. The telephone poll of 600 likely Republican primary voters was conducted Nov. 4 through Nov. 9 by the American Research Group Inc. of Manchester.
Yesterday, McCain ate scrambled eggs at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Laconia, among men who served in the Army, Navy, and Marines. Some wore their faded green fatigues; others displayed medals, ribbons, and navy blue veterans caps.
''Come on one last mission with me and these old guys, and the young guys,'' he implored the crowd of more than 200 men and women jammed into the long, pine-paneled hall. ''Let's go on another mission and we can do that as foot soldiers in this campaign and we can win.''
McCain also spoke to some specific concerns of veterans and those now in the service.
He condemned the lack of quality health care and long-term care benefits for veterans and called it an ''outrage'' that some veterans need to travel to Boston for VA care.
He promised to restore morale, pay, and benefits for military men and women before buying any new equipment for the armed forces. And he decried the fact that there are 12,000 military families so pinched for funds that they rely on food stamps.
''It's just deplorable,'' he said.
McCain's message seemed to resonate with the veterans here, many of whom were sporting his stickers.
''If you cut him, it would be red, white, and blue,'' said William Champagne of Franklin, a staff sergeant in Vietnam who now serves as the VFW's state commander.
Added Kenneth Warner, a retired electrician from Moultonboro and a Marine in Korea: ''I like the way the man talks.''
