PORTSMOUTH — Republican presidential nominee John McCain brought his campaign to Portsmouth Wednesday, the first in what he said would be repeated visits to southern and rural Ohio between now and the November election.

McCain discussed the economy, the Iraq war, energy independence and other hot-button issues in a town hall meeting at Portsmouth High School.

A mostly friendly crowd packed the high school gym, which seats about 1,800. McCain drew repeated applause for his answers to queries about the war, oil and gas prices, health care, jobs and education.

He blamed the Bush administration for much of the country’s economic woes: “This Congress and this administration failed to meet their fiscal responsibility.” McCain said as president he’d use veto power to wrestle the federal budget under control.

He took numerous swipes at his opponent, Democratic nominee Barack Obama, accusing Obama of planning to raise taxes — McCain said he will lower them across the board — and of rebuffing his proposal to conduct joint town meetings.

He called strategic energy independence the country’s biggest challenge and called for a multifaceted approach, including coal, wind, solar and nuclear power. The last is particularly important for Scioto County with its Piketon nuclear facility.

He repeatedly called nuclear power a safe source and a vital, non-polluting alternative to fossil fuels. “I believe climate change is real and that pollution is having harmful effects on our planet.”

He called for lifting the ban on offshore drilling for oil, saying it would send a message that the United States is serious about eliminating its dependence on foreign oil.

McCain said he would ease the tax burden on small businesses and would cut the estate tax to 15 percent for estates of more than $10 million and eliminate it entirely for those under that amount.

One questioner asked McCain why he didn’t distance himself from the increasingly unpopular President George W. Bush. “I respect President Bush, but I believe it is time for a change in America … We’ve got to stop the out-of-control pork-barrel spending … It corrupted us … We forgot that it’s your money, not our money.”

Another asked him about the No Child Left Behind Act, a centerpiece of Bush’s first term. The sweeping educational accountability act is a sound concept that requires fixing and more funding to meet its mandates, McCain said. He also said he supports charter schools. “I’m for choice and competition. I want every American to be able to send their child to a school of their choice.”

Responding to a question about saber-rattling by Iran, McCain called for sanctions, saying he would support talks with Iran only if it renounced its denunciation of Israel.

McCain’s visit to Portsmouth is essential to the campaign, attendees said.

“So many people need to know about him,” said Inez Ruark of Wheelersburg, who was there with her husband, Paul. “From what I hear about the other candidate, he thinks he’s going to take Ohio. McCain is going to show him he isn’t.”

Ohio’s rural counties are shaping up to be a deciding factor in who wins the state’s electoral votes, with the urban centers of northern Ohio being solidly Democratic.