EDITOR'S NOTE: "On the Trail" is a series profiling the major candidates as they campaign across the state in the final weeks before the New Hampshire primary.

IT WAS DEC. 7, and Sen. John McCain was on his campaign bus, sitting where any cool kid would: in the very back.

And, like eager schoolchildren, reporters huddled around him, scribbling down the words of the 71-year-old king of the Straight Talk Express.

They peppered McCain with questions about similarities to the 2000 primary he won handily, and the candidate instead offered a major difference: The issue of veterans' care has never been greater.

"There's still a lot of questions about veterans," he says. "Much more than in 2000. In 2000, we weren't at war."

McCain grew somber while discussing the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the most notorious example of declining care for veterans.

"It's amazing how many people are still angry," he said. "They're astonished and outraged."

The issue loomed even larger on this particular day, the anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and veterans filled the front row at many stops, including Hampstead Middle School.

Among them was John Roden of North Haverhill, a Pearl Harbor survivor who sees historic importance in the Arizona senator's run for the White House.

"We need John the way Britain needed Winston Churchill," Roden said.

The support of New Hampshire residents such as Roden has been growing, McCain said while sharing newspaper endorsements and columns with journalists back on the bus.

Republican Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., greets potential supporters during a campaign stop in Atkinson earlier this month.

"McCain's New Hampshire glimmer?" he said quizzically, reading from his BlackBerry. "Now that's not exactly what I had in mind."

When talk turned to other candidates and their qualifications, McCain declined to launch any attacks, saying that would only detract from his own message.

"I would rather have the media address these situations here," he said.

As for early campaign missteps and sluggish fundraising, McCain was philosophical.

"I never had a campaign without ups and downs," he said.

A staffer then interrupted the discussion to give the senator a phone number to call for a radio interview.

"Hello, this is Senator John McCain," he said before being placed on hold.

After two minutes, McCain broke the awkward silence.

"It's the world's longest introduction," he said.

Another 20 seconds passed.

"Okay, now I'm in the Navy," he said, laughing.

Although McCain's lengthy resume often strengthens voters' confidence in his ability to lead, the senator's recurring role in bipartisan legislation often attracts criticism from questioners at town hall-style meetings.

Earlier that morning, Mark Acciard of Atkinson pointed to McCain as the least duplicitous candidate, but he expressed concerns about the campaign funding reform act that McCain co-sponsored.

"I think it had the opposite effect," Acciard said. "You said you wanted to get the money out of politics. It's flooded politics."

Pausing for a moment, McCain nodded before joking, "Who invited you?"

The question-and-answer format is what McCain seeks and finds in New Hampshire, and it is a significant reason why he continues to gain momentum.

"I do sense some movement, but whether it's reality or wishful thinking, we'll know as the primary moves closer," McCain said.

To supporter Chris Goodnow of Salem, the momentum is very similar to that in 2000, when it was still unclear which candidate would attract the bulk of independent voters.

"It feels the same. It's anecdotal, I know, but as time goes on, the crowds do get bigger," said Goodnow, who is on McCain's New Hampshire steering committee.

"I believe in my heart that he connects in this state like very few politicians do, in that he says what he means and he means what he says," Goodnow said.