Arizona Sen. John McCain spent a snowy Sunday wending his way through the Lakes Region, making his final stop at a packed house at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Court Street.

Accompanied by his wife, Cindy, and daughter Meghan, McCain quipped about hailing from Arizona with its lack of snow, but quickly got down to business.

"I believe we are facing the transcendental challenge of the century of radical Islamic terrorism," said McCain, adding that the nation is faced with a "long twilight struggle against the greatest force of evil this country has ever seen."

He told the nearly 300 people who braved the storm to hear him that he knows the leaders in that part of the world, that he has been to Waziristan in the north of Pakistan, and that he's the candidate who doesn't need any on-the-job training.

He said he believes it is important for the president to have military experience as well as foreign policy experience.

McCain remains very popular in New Hampshire where he won the 2000 Republican primary. The most recent polls show him regaining his strength in the state after losing ground over the summer because of internal problems within his campaign. He now trails only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in New Hampshire whose support has waned slightly.

Nationally he is running at a steady 14 percent of those polled, slightly ahead of Romney but behind former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

One of the reasons for the resurgence in his popularity was his advocacy of more troops in Iraq, a position that initially put him at odds with many Republicans who supported what McCain called the "Rumsfeld strategy" — but it has won him recognition since former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's termination and the report of Gen. David Petraeus showing the surge did improve conditions in Iraq.

McCain told his Laconia audience that, rather than Russian President Vladimir Putin being Time Magazine's Man of the Year, his choice would have been Peiraeus — "a great general."

McCain also spoke at length about his commitment to expanding the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps and to providing returning Iraq veterans with the health care they earned and need.

That sentiment answered at least one question McCain faced from the audience. Before his speech, Army Sgt. John Evans and his wife, Carol, from Hill said they came to ask McCain about that issue and to tell him about the problems Evans has had getting treatment for a shoulder injury he sustained in his recent, yearlong tour in Iraq.

"The [Veteran's Administration] is a nightmare on U.S.A. Street," said Evans when given his opportunity to question McCain.

Other questions posed by the audience included one about the United States' relations with Saudi Arabia, about the kind of people he would bring to Washington with him should he be elected, and if he would work to bring the two parties together to get something done in Washington.

When one man told McCain he may not vote Republican for the first time in his life because of the recent rightward shift the Supreme Court has taken, McCain said he would nominate judges who have a "strict interpretation of the Constitution" and that he is most against a judiciary that legislates from the bench.

"Justice [John] Roberts is one of the finest judges we ever put on the court," said McCain who also praised Justice Samuel Alito for his judicial interpretations and told his questioner that probably wasn't the answer he wanted to hear.

Earlier in the day, at house parties and retail stops throughout Central New Hampshire, the McCains trekked through snow that snarled roadways in order to bring the candidate's message home.

"Many of these people are good people," Cindy McCain said of the other candidates at the start of a house party. "They have been managers in their lives. They have not been leaders. They have not been men that understand what it means to send young men and women into combat. And more importantly, how to bring them home with honor, with dignity and in victory."

Cindy McCain's swipe at Romney, a multimillionaire venture capitalist, underscores the tight race here. As the campaigns hit their last stride, McCain's camp has played up his national security credentials and compared them to his rivals'.

"These are perilous times. I do not want my sons, your sons or daughters led by anybody who does not understand that," Cindy McCain said.

Also on Tuesday, McCain's campaign released a Web-only ad featuring graphic images of a dangerous world. McCain defended the images: "I think the American people have been seeing graphic images for the last several days as to what happened to Benazir Bhutto and the riots and the demonstrations in the streets. There's nothing in that video that is more graphic or astonishing than what the American people have seen and they have watched, unfortunately, for the last many years in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Aides said they don't plan to air the ad on television, but expect news programs will air it as newsworthy content.

"Look, this election, to a large degree, is we live in a dangerous world. The threat of radical Islamic extremism and who has the knowledge, experience and judgment to lead. That's what I think this election should be about and that's why we're taking about it," McCain told reporters.

When reporters pointed to Romney's comments that Ronald Reagan was a relative foreign policy novice and was a great leader, McCain quipped, "apparently, those credentials weren't good enough for Governor Romney to vote for him."

"But the fact is that Ronald Reagan had fought communism for 30 years. Ronald Reagan was sent around the world by the Nixon administration as an envoy. Ronald Reagan had extensive national security and foreign policy experience, and particularly his core sense of principles and positions on issues that never changed."

Romney has faced criticism for changing his positions on anti-abortion, immigration and gun control.

"On the issue of leadership, Governor Romney managed a large investment company. I led the largest squadron in the United States Navy. I led, not for profit, but for patriotism. I'm proud of leading and the success of a thousand-person Navy squadron, which is one of the best experience I've had in my life. I'll match my leadership credential up against anyone's — not my management credentials. Americans want leaders, they don't want managers. I can hire lots of good managers."

As most of his rivals focused on Iowa, McCain is keeping his sights on New Hampshire. At a house party, voters were packed into a cul-de-sac. Despite the treacherous weather that left scores of cars in ditches, voters stood in rooms with no view of the candidate.

McCain continues his tour of New Hampshire today with stops scheduled in the southern part of the state. He will be joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut who endorsed McCain earlier this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.