HARRISBURG -- Pittsburgh has its three rivers, and Philadelphia has its Liberty Bell. But Harrisburg has the new John McCain statewide "Victory 2008" campaign headquarters, and yesterday it was full of "McCain-iacs."

That's the name for hundreds of volunteers who will work from now until the November presidential election, going against the odds to try to win the state for the Arizona senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee. That hasn't happened since the first George Bush won the state in 1988.

McCain volunteer coordinator Jim Scherrer, on a statewide conference call yesterday, told the volunteers that they must reverse a current lead of anywhere from seven to 12 points that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Mr. McCain's expected Democratic rival, has in Pennsylvania.

He urged volunteers to put out hundreds of yard signs touting Mr. McCain in each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, along with buying and then reselling some of the Republican's books, as ways to inform voters about him.

Mr. Scherrer also said Mr. McCain's "Internet presence is strong and getting stronger," and new blogs are being added.

The McCain brain trust is on Harrisburg's State Street, just two blocks down from the state Capitol. In the rotunda earlier yesterday, Democratic and organized labor forces held a similar rally for Mr. Obama.

State Democratic Party spokesman Abe Amoros and Bill George, president of the state AFL-CIO, blasted Mr. McCain as "McBush," echoing the Obama campaign's line that their GOP rival would simply be "the third term of George W. Bush," continuing Mr. Bush's "devastating" economic policies that, they said, have led to thousands of Pennsylvania job losses. They also criticized Mr. McCain for continuing to support the war in Iraq.

Mr. Amoros claimed that Mr. McCain "has admitted he doesn't understand economics. He has no strategy for addressing high gasoline prices and their effect on the working families of this nation."