WASHINGTON —AP- Republican presidential candidate John McCain's brother
made an apparent joke at a campaign rally this weekend that might not
play well in parts of newly competitive Virginia.

Joe McCain, speaking at an event in support of his brother, called two
Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia "communist country,"
according to a report on The Washington Post's Web site.

"I've lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third
duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country,"
Joe McCain, a Navy veteran, said at an event in Loudoun County, Va.

Joe McCain then apologized, but the remark drew laughter at the event,
according to the report.

Virginia has long been a Republican stronghold in presidential
elections, but Democrat Barack Obama is running even or ahead of McCain
in recent state polls. Obama is being helped by fast-growing communities
in the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Northern Virginia, which tend to
vote more Democratic than other parts of the state.

One of those areas is Arlington, Va., where John McCain owns a condominium.

"This was Joe McCain's unsuccessful attempt at humor," said McCain
campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho. "John McCain and Sarah Palin are
committed to winning the support of voters in Northern Virginia and
understand the region's importance to victory statewide."

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