SARATOGA SPRINGS - Admitting that Republicans may face “a very tough election” in 2006, Sen. John McCain came to upstate New York to raise money Saturday for Rep. John Sweeney, a lawmaker under attack from optimistic Democrats seeking to regain control of the House.

McCain, R-Ariz., headlined a $150-a-plate fundraiser luncheon for Sweeney. Some in the crowd of roughly 100 paid $1,000 for a private meeting with the senator, a potential 2008 presidential candidate.

“We all know that this is going to be a very tough election season. Republicans are going to have a difficult challenge in this election,” McCain told reporters. “I believe the Republican Party should be a national party not a regional one. I think we're the big tent party.”

Sweeney is being challenged by Democratic lawyer Kirsten Gillibrand in what has traditionally been a solidly Republican district. This year, Democrats have named it one of the most vulnerable to takeover and pledged to put national fundraising money behind Gillibrand's effort.

The Arizona senator known for bucking his party on pork-barrel spending and campaign finance laws praised Sweeney as “a very valuable national asset.”

The GOP is struggling in New York state, where a recent poll put President Bush's approval rating at just 22 percent.

McCain joked the approval ratings for Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress are so low, “you get down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”

He said Republicans can regain the public's confidence by acting responsibly: reining in government spending, improving conditions in Iraq, and passing effective immigration reform.

Echoing comments recently by White House adviser Karl Rove, McCain said frustration with the Iraq war is behind much of the GOP's low poll numbers but said the country needs to stay dedicated to helping the fledgling government for several more years.

“Serious mistakes have been made, but you know, serious mistakes have been made in every war, every single war we've been in. And the key obviously is to fix it,” he told the audience.

McCain is one of the few national GOP figures who can give Sweeney a boost in a state where Democrats are optimistic and Republicans are feuding.

But before the lunch, Sweeney had to eat a little crow.

Back during the 2000 presidential campaign, Sweeney publicly attacked McCain's voting record, saying: “We believe very strongly it's an anti-New York and, in fact, an anti-Northeast voting record.”

At the fundraiser, Sweeney said: “I was wrong.”

“You can be wrong in this business and get do-overs. This is a do-over,” said Sweeney. “Since Sept. 11 everybody became a New Yorker in some respects. I don't think we've had a better friend than John McCain.”

As for his own race, Sweeney said he did not have an ideological bent.

“I don't know if I like labels all that much. I don't know if I'm a moderate or I'm a conservative. I'm a representative of people from here,” he said, adding that he believed his party needs to “show leadership to rebuild confidence in itself.”

Outside the fundraiser, about a dozen protesters chanted anti-Sweeney and McCain slogans, saying both men were too closely aligned with President Bush and his policies.

After the fundraiser, McCain and Sweeney visited a charity event in Brunswick hosted by state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

Asked about Republicans' chances this election year, Bruno predicted “a challenging year for people in office,” but denied the Democrats would be able to muster a big wave of political victories in November.

“Democrats would like to make the case that there's going to be a big tsunami... It is not going to be what the Democrats like people to believe,” he said.

AP-ES-05-20-06 1620EDT