Sen. John McCain hugs Nancy Chapman, 82, of East Greenwich, after she said, "I know now why God saved you from that war. He saved you so that you can save our country." The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

WARWICK — Arizona Sen. John McCain — the presumptive Republican presidential candidate — swooped into Rhode Island yesterday and road-tested the fall campaign themes of low taxes, restrained federal spending and unbending support for the U.S. military surge in Iraq.

McCain spoke at a boisterous rally of 1,000 Republican loyalists who jammed a hotel ballroom where he picked up the endorsement of Governor Carcieri, who began the 2008 campaign cycle supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

One of McCain’s messages yesterday was to emphasize that he is a “big-tent” Republican who wants the support of New England GOP moderates. “I will campaign in every state in the union and I will carry the state of Rhode Island.”

McCain said little that was new and, in fact, recycled one-liners from his winning New Hampshire primary campaign last month. But his fans lapped it up yesterday, consistently interrupting his remarks for cheers and applause.

On foreign policy, America’s most famous prisoner of war delivered an impassioned defense of President Bush’s military surge strategy. The “transcendent issue” of the 21st century, McCain said, is the “struggle against radical Islamic extremists.”

“If I have to follow him to the gates of hell myself,” said McCain, “I will get Osama bin Laden.”

McCain also underscored his environmental stances, saying that global warming is an important issue. “I believe climate change is real.”

He said he supports nuclear power as one way to wean the United States off fossil fuels, pointing out that the U.S. Navy has safely used nuclear power on ships for 60 years and that France generates 80 percent of its electricity with nuclear plants. .

McCain easily won the 2000 Rhode Island GOP presidential primary and can be expected to win the March 4 primary here convincingly. His lone opposition is Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and Baptist preacher whose strongest support has been mostly in the South. About 40 Huckabee supporters waved signs outside McCain’s event yesterday.

“I respect Governor Huckabee,” said McCain. “I do believe I am on the path to getting the nomination of my party.”

McCain appeared yesterday on stage with Carcieri, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian and Rhode Island House Republican Leader Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich, McCain’s state campaign chairman and confidante.

An hour before McCain landed in Rhode Island, former Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee — for whom McCain campaigned in 2006 — announced he is supporting Democratic Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for president. Some of Chafee’s longtime Republican supporters were not happy about the endorsement, especially its timing.

“It is a mistake,” said Ian Lang, Chafee’s 2006 campaign manager. “With John McCain you have a guy who has a shot at growing the base of the Republican Party. And Senator McCain was very helpful to Linc in his last campaign.”

When asked about the Chafee endorsement of Obama, McCain said it didn’t bother him. “I have great respect and affection for Senator Chafee and I respect whatever decision he makes .… I loved his dad and I love him.”

Since his 2006 defeat at the hands of Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, Chafee has left the GOP and become an independent.

While McCain’s wisecracks and ease with a crowd are as obvious as ever, this campaign is not a rerun of 2000. Then, McCain was the merry maverick, treating reporters as a band of brothers and sisters, and he emphasized his anti-establishment credentials. McCain famously called religious-right televangelists “agents of intolerance,” a stance that conservatives disdained.

Now, McCain is playing nice to the GOP right, seeking to unify the party at a time when Democrats are enmeshed in a wrenching battle between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. McCain no longer emphasizes his refusal to support President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, saying yesterday that the flagging economy dictates that those cuts be made permanent.

“These are tough times in a lot of America,” he said.

McCain said not one word yesterday about his past support for a path to U.S. citizenship for immigrants who are in the country illegally.

McCain began his day in Vermont, another deep blue Democratic state in recent presidential elections, speaking to about 500 in a hangar at Burlington International Airport. Rhode Island has not given its four electoral votes to a Republican White House aspirant since 1984, when the state narrowly supported Ronald Reagan’s reelection.

After his speech in Warwick, McCain did an interview with The Journal and flew from T.F. Green Airport to Boston for a public endorsement from Romney, who ended his campaign last week after poor showings in early primary and caucus states.

In an interview, McCain said his differences with Romney during the primary campaign will not linger into the general election effort.

“Anyone who has run for public office will tell you that primaries are tough and there is a lot of emotion associated with it, and my job is to unite the party and we’re making progress in that direction,” said McCain.

The Arizonan said he isn’t worried about GOP conservatives who have reservations about him. “I would point out that in recent elections we have received the majority of the voters who described themselves as conservative and we’ve still got work to do with those who are, quote, very conservative.”

McCain also said he matches up well against either Clinton or Obama, and pointed to recent public-opinion polls that show him competitive against either Democrat.

Rhode Island Democrats, naturally, criticized McCain. “Campaign McCain’s extreme makeover may help him pander to the right wing of the Republican Party, but the rest of Rhode Island’s working families have already figured out that the real McCain can’t be trusted to provide the change they need,” said Democratic State Chairman William Lynch.

McCain said he looks forward to a fall campaign against the Democratic nominee. “I say we will have a spirited discussion. They want bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation, a government takeover of the health-care system, and surrender in Iraq. We’ll have a very spirited debate on those issues and I’m confident as a conservative Republican against a liberal Democrat that most Americans will support me.”

As is usually the case at a McCain rally, the Warwick crowd was well-salted with military veterans, including Annapolis classmates of McCain who retain deep affection for him.

Ed Clune, of North Kingstown, and George Brenner, of Newport, were with McCain in the Naval Academy Class of 1958. “I always knew him as Johnny. He was quite a guy … a real man’s man,” Clune said. “He was a spirited guy. He liked to party, he liked women and women liked him. He was charismatic and one of those guys people liked.” Brenner said he never thought McCain would run for president, but figured he might rise to admiral — as did his father and grandfather. But now that he is on the cusp of claiming the GOP presidential nomination and perhaps winning the White House, Brenner said, “it really doesn’t surprise me.”

mbakst@projo.com