CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Republican presidential nominee John McCain, appealing to North Carolina veterans in a bid to prevent the state from swinging to Democrat Barack Obama, said Saturday his rival is unprepared to lead the United States through the challenges ahead.

McCain told supporters in Concord that the next president will have to act immediately in a dangerous world with many enemies. He asked veterans to raise their hands so the crowd could honor them and declared that Obama will mishandle troops overseas.

"He will concede defeat in Iraq. I will bring our troops home in honor and in victory," McCain said to the loudest applause of the morning, drawing a chant of "USA" from the crowd. Obama proposes laying out a plan to get troops out of Iraq while McCain would leave the decision up to commanders.

McCain's wife, Cindy, opened that attack on Obama as she introduced her husband at the rally that drew several thousand supporters. She noted that the Republican ticket has three members of the family in active-duty service -- one each in the Army, Marines and Navy -- to the country.

"My husband is the only one that will understand what it means to send young men and women into battle -- and more importantly to bring them home in honor and in victory," she said.

Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, also has a son preparing to deploy to Iraq.

McCain has increased his presence to defend North Carolina as Obama tries to swing it to the Democrats for the first time in decades. Saturday was his second visit to the state in a week, and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has also visited twice.

President Bush won the state by 12 percentage points just four years ago, but Obama has invested heavily with both staff and advertising as he tries to take advantage of more liberal transplants and a bloc of black voters that have altered North Carolina's electorate.

McCain said the enthusiasm he's seen in North Carolina has given him the confidence that the campaign is on a roll in the state. But he was more somber in his introduction, noting a deficit in national polls.

"I'm going to give you some hard facts: We have to win the state of North Carolina," he said.

Not to be outdone, Obama plans to campaign Sunday in Fayetteville -- home to the military base Fort Bragg -- to counter some of McCain's rhetoric about the Illinois senator and the armed forces.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)