MSNBC.com

Republican Sen. John McCain will be greeted today by both supporters and protesters as he makes a nostalgic return to the state that supported him in both the 2000 and 2008 presidential primaries and this year launched his drive to the nomination.

During a town hall-style meeting this afternoon in Exeter, McCain, in a unity gesture, will also recognize and welcome to his campaign key supporters of other Republican campaigns "who are joining his campaign and showing support," McCain senior adviser Michael Dennehy said yesterday.

New Hampshire will have only four electoral votes in November, but is now a battleground swing state that supported Democrat John Kerry in 2004 and Republican George W. Bush in 2000.

State Republicans are hoping McCain will attract staunch Republicans as well as independents and so-called "Reagan Democrats" to not only win the state, but also help the entire ticket in a year that the GOP will be trying to rebound from a Democratic electoral "tsunami" that swept the state and nation in 2006.

McCain state campaign Chairman Peter Spaulding, a former executive councilor, and state McCain co-chair Nancy Merrill are planning organizational meetings statewide to begin the general election effort.

"But this visit to New Hampshire is primarily a thank you tour for New Hampshire launching him to the Republican nomination," Dennehy said.

The area near the Exeter Town Hall is expected to be crowded with protesters as well as supporters.

A group called TrueMajority.org will protest McCains alleged "warmongering on Iran" by bring its "Iranmobile" a vehicle pulling a large "missile" pointed to the sky to Exeter. A likeness of McCain rides atop the pseudo-bomb.

The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor union organization, will announce plans for a $53 million nationwide anti-McCain effort called "McCain Revealed," aimed at portraying McCain as anti-worker and a political clone of Bush.

New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie will host a telephone news conference this morning to "express outrage that (McCain's) economic policies and plan are in lock step with the Bush administration's policies that have been so bad for working people," according to an AFL-CIO statement. Union members are being urged to gather and protest in Exeter.

A group of Democrats and social activists held a news conference yesterday to criticize McCain's support for a privatization component for the Social Security system.

Cathy Silber of the New Hampshire Citizens Alliance for Action predicted that McCain's visit will draw plenty of attention.

"It will be very chaotic with his supporters and with people protesting his policies," she said.

Rep. Michael Brunelle, D-Manchester, said McCain should have learned when Bush's proposal failed that Americans are against privatization.

"Now he proposes to bring back from the dead the very same plan and that turns Social Security from a guarantee into a gamble," Brunelle said, citing estimates that the move would pull $1 trillion out of Social Security.

Others said that instead of taking money out of the system, Congress should focus on funding it.

John Mendolusky of Amherst, New Hampshire president of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said Social Security's problems are exaggerated through "fear-mongering by the privatizers." Tying a reliable benefit to an unpredictable stock market would be a mistake, he said.

Rep. Michael Farley, D-Manchester, speaking for Americans United for Change, said Social Security has been the most successful program in the history of federal government.

He said those who push privatization "are not telling the truth about who benefits from these plans."

The state Democratic Party yesterday unveiled a web video called "Two Ducks in a Row," pointing out similarities between McCain and Bush.

"New Hampshire, like the rest of America, is desperate for change in Washington," said state Democratic Chairman Raymond Buckley. He said McCain's "record and his rhetoric" show that he will "provide more of the same in the White House: failed economic policies, a prolonged war and an acceptance of the growing ranks of uninsured in America."

Dennehy responded, "No one knows better than the voters of New Hampshire that John McCain is his own person with his own ideas and his own agenda for America. The Democratic Party is showing how scared they are to lose to John McCain by using scare tactics and fabrications."

McCain is scheduled to attend a private fund-raiser in Manchester before hosting the Exeter meeting.

Now as the nominee, the Arizona senator has begun sharpening his attacks on Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Yesterday, he said their "protectionist" promises to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could undermine U.S. trade agreements with other nations.

"Every campaign stop is now illustrating the differences between John McCain's vision for the country versus the Democrats," Dennehy said, citing, "his experience and preparedness to be commander-in-chief versus their lack of experience and his plans to grow the economy while limiting the size of government versus their wanting to grow government on the backs of taxpayers.

State House Bureau Chief Tom Fahey contributed to this report.