PEMBROKE – A voter yesterday questioned if presidential candidate John McCain has the health and physical stamina to endure eight years in the White House.

"If I said that I was running for eight years, I'm not sure that would be a vote-getter," the 71-year-old Republican senator from Arizona told about 75 people at Pembroke Academy.

McCain said he's only looking four years into the future -- assuming an eight-year presidency gives a candidate the mistaken impression he has eight years to accomplish goals.

Besides, his 95-year-old mother is in excellent health and the senator claims he can "out-campaign" any other candidate.

Amid jokes about the cold weather and with wife Cindy by his side, McCain praised the troop surge in Iraq, saying the new strategy is working, and reminding voters he was the only candidate who early on criticized former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's strategy.

"Al Qaida is on the run, but they are not defeated," McCain said.

And with the recent assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the region is even more unsettled. McCain vowed to ensure Pakistan's nuclear arms are secured.

The senator criticized President George Bush for recently signing a bill that funded 9,000 special interest projects.

"I'm going to take wasteful pork-barrel spending and bring it to an end," McCain said.

He also said he wants to reduce overall greenhouse gas emission through a cap and trade program, but opposed a carbon tax, which he said is just a fancy phrase for "gas tax."

Some of the lowest income people often drive the farthest to and from work, he said.

The senator supports using nuclear energy to reduce dependence on foreign oil and said the issue is not with nuclear power but how to dispose of the waste.

McCain knows the impact of the New Hampshire primary and unabashedly asked for votes yesterday, saying he's grateful for consideration.

Peter Mehe, who teaches French at Pembroke Academy, said even though he supports Mike Huckabee in the upcoming election, he admires McCain.

"John McCain was in the Hanoi Hilton," Mehe said. "He was tortured and mistreated. But he withstood all of that and came back. He got up and ran for senator and for President. That's what America is all about."

Merrimack County Sheriff Scott Hilliard has been an active McCain supporter for the past 18 months. "He believes the greatest thing is serving his country," Hilliard said. "He's consistent, the most down to earth and qualified candidate. He understands the concerns we have."

A new CNN/WMUR survey shows McCain tied with Mitt Romney in New Hampshire: 29 percent of likely GOP voters said they would vote for him.