JACKSON, Mich. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain stressed Michigan's importance to the Republican party Thursday during a campaign stop.

He also said he has the most knowledge, background and experience — particularly on military matters — to represent the GOP in the race for the White House.

"Michigan is the heartland of America — and we can't ignore it," McCain said after speaking to an outdoor crowd of a few hundred people in a city that touts itself as the birthplace of the Republican party. "The state is one that has to be carried by a Republican. ... It is a bellwether state."

He used the rally to reiterate his long-held support for the military surge in Iraq, while maintaining the war has been "badly mismanaged." McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1967 to 1973, also denounced the interrogation technique of waterboarding as torture.

Later, the four-term Arizona senator held a media briefing at the Coleman A. Young International Airport in Detroit and was to fly to New Hampshire Thursday evening.

A day earlier, McCain was endorsed by Kansas conservative and former presidential rival Sam Brownback.