There was relatively little attention focused on Michigan's struggling economy, but McCain once again stopped short of adopting a position favored by the Detroit carmakers.

They and Michigan lawmakers want several billion dollars in federal funding to guarantee loans to carmakers for new technology investments, which would make it easier for the struggling domestic companies to borrow money.

Asked if he backed such proposals, McCain suggested that such support might create a sense of doom around the companies.

'I have heard many of these proposals, but I have also had meetings with the Big 3 automakers, and they are confident that with the new hybrids and flex-fuels and other technology advances ... they can succeed. So in all due respect, I worry a little bit about us predicting failure on the part of the automakers when they're struggling mightily.'

Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama's economic adviser said Obama would support loan guarantees and jumped on McCain's hesitance. 'Unlike Sen. McCain, Barack Obama supports loans and tax credits to retool the nation's auto plants and build the next generation of American cars,' said Brent Colburn.

Greg Martin, a Washington-based spokesman for General Motors, said the loan guarantees are one of the best ways federal officials can help the companies shift to more fuel-efficient products in the face of a harsh economy.

'Senator McCain knows all that we're doing with advance technology, and in many respects it's nothing short of really reinventing the automobile,' Martin said.

'But all of this comes at a particularly difficult time with economy and market forces that really impede our process.'

Michigan lawmakers are hoping to win support for the loan funding, perhaps as part of a new economic stimulus plan. Last month, about 70 members of the House signed a letter supporting the funding.

It's not the first time McCain, generally a supporter of higher fuel efficiency standards, has taken a position at odds with the industry. Last month in an appearance in Warren, McCain said he would allow states such as California to set their own rules on carbon emissions from cars, which the companies have said would create massive expenses.

The auto industry was secondary most of the day to Georgia, where Russian troops remained Wednesday. McCain praised a commitment from President Bush to boost U.S. humanitarian aid to the small country. He repeated calls for the Group of 8 economic powers to eject Russia. And he criticized the campaign of Obama for politicizing the issue, even as he and his supporters sought to use the issue to their own advantage.

During a West Bloomfield Township fundraiser at the start of the day, McCain took what appeared to be a swipe at Obama's relative inexperience, saying such crises require 'a steady and experienced hand on the tiller.'

When asked about comments from an Obama adviser suggesting his tough talk against Russia had exacerbated the crisis, McCain said, 'This isn't a time for partisanship and sniping between campaigns. This is about hundreds of thousands of innocent people.'

Earlier in the day, he toured Beaver Aerospace & Defense, a Livonia company that makes parts for military and commercial aircraft, telling workers there, 'your work is so vital in maintaining the defense of this nation.'

The Michigan Democratic Party, seeking to focus attention on economic issues, pointed out that in 2003, Bush visited Beaver Aerospace & Defense, too.

'John McCain calls himself a maverick, but every day his economic plan looks more and more like George Bush's,' state Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer said in a written statement.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, meanwhile, chided 'McCain's decision to cozy up to one of the central figures in the Republican culture of corruption' -- a reference to the fact that a political strategist tied to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal is helping raise money for McCain.

Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition, is promoting a Republican National Committee fundraiser set for Atlanta next week. A House investigative committee in 2006 found that Reed interceded with the Bush White House to help some of Abramoff's clients.

Later Wednesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat elected to the Senate as an independent and now backing McCain's campaign, held an evening reception at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, as part of the campaign's outreach to the Jewish community.

Lieberman said party affiliations were 'not more important than being an American. I'm supporting John McCain because he's the best for the United States of America,' he told an audience of a couple hundred.

McCain also was to meet with social conservatives, mainly backers of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign. Those activists were expected to ask him not to add Michigan native Mitt Romney to his ticket. Religious conservatives consider Romney undependable on issues such as abortion and gay marriage.