GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain returned Wednesday to a pivotal place in his political career: New Hampshire, where he won the primary in 2000 and again this year and where he aims to drum up support as polls show the Granite State tilting toward rival Sen. Barack Obama.

A poll published by the Concord Monitor on Oct. 20 showed Obama with a 7 point lead over the Arizona senator — a drop from polls conducted earlier in the month that showed Obama leading McCain by some 10 points, according to surveys compiled by Real Clear Politics.

McCain senior adviser Mark Salter brushed off talk of McCain giving up on the state Tuesday. Salter told the Associated Press that McCain was visiting New Hampshire because “we get a charge out of it. We think we’re competitive there. They get it.”

During a Wednesday morning rally in Goffstown, N.H., McCain urged the crowd to help him “one more time” as he runs an “underdog campaign.”

“We’ll again come from behind and take our victory all the way to Washington,” he said, according to media reports.

“Some of my happiest, happiest memories are here in this wonderful state,” McCain told the crowd. “One thing I’ve learned is it doesn’t matter what the pundits say. The people of New Hampshire make their own decisions,” he said.

New Hampshire voters twice have launched McCain toward the GOP nomination. He beat President Bush in the state’s 2000 primary and pulled off a comeback win last January.

“John McCain has always been a good closer,” said New Hampshire GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen, according to the Boston Herald. “He’s come back not once but twice here. His record of reform is what brought him to prominence here a decade ago.”

Obama, on the other hand, has seen New Hampshire more as a cautionary tale. After winning Iowa in the Democratic primary, the Illinois senator lost the Granite State to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. The two would go on to trade wins in primary contests around the country, stretching the nominating race until June.

In a story on MSNBC’s Web site Howard Fineman recounts a recent visit to Obama headquarters in Chicago where scrawled upon an easel was the blunt warning: “TWO SHORT WEEKS. TWO LITTLE WORDS: NEW HAMPSHIRE.”

After the visit to New Hampshire, McCain heads to Ohio for two rallies with his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. He then goes to Florida, where Obama also is running ahead in the polls.

The McCain campaign also released a new television ad named “Sweat Equity” in which various people label themselves “Joe the Plumber” and accuse Obama of wanting to raise their taxes — a center point in GOP criticism of the Democratic ticket.