Hallam … Wrightsville … Mountville … Landisville.

The towns slipped past the windows of John McCain's Straight Talk Express bus as the presumptive Republican nominee and his campaign rambled Tuesday from an energizing townhall meeting in York to a brief visit with the Manheim Central High School football squad.

They are the small Pennsylvania communities he'll probably win, but just how many will vote for the Arizona senator whose reputation was built on independence, bipartisanship and moderate stances remains unclear. These towns, after all, are home to some of the most dedicated conservatives in the state, voters McCain's going to need to offset his opponent's advantage in the state's southeast.

McCain offered 30 minutes on the Straight Talk Express to the local press, including this Bird's-Eye View columnist. Here's some of what he said:

About making former Gov. Tom Ridge his vice presidential nominee:

I think Tom Ridge is a national figure. He was head of the Homeland Security and he became well known. I think that he will be a valuable contribution to any administration that I would be a part of, but I can't talk about him as vice president. You know that.

About Sen. Barack Obama's energy platform:

I noticed Sen. Obama says … no to a gas tax holiday, no to nuclear processing, no to (nuclear waste) storage, no to offshore drilling. It's all no. And renewables, we all love solar, but no expert — no expert — will tell you that's going to satisfy our absolute national security requirement to become energy independent.

About the lack of discussion by the White House about conservation as a means for curbing rising energy prices:

I think (a message about conservation) has been very strong, and we have to continue to make it strong. I'm all for inflating tires, and I'm all for getting your engine tuned up, but to say therefore we don't have to drill (for oil) offshore, that's where I have a major difference of opinion with Sen. Obama.

About Obama's statements that as president he would be willing to strike al-Qaida targets in Pakistan:

The worst thing you can do is telegraph your punches. The best thing you can do is cooperate with the sovereign government of that state. I don't want to say anything but to say we want to work as best as we can with the Pakistani government to counter a great threat to them, to the sovereignty of Pakistan, as well as to Afghanistan. Unlike Sen. Obama, who announced he would unilaterally attack Pakistan, which, by the way, had a very bad effect on the Pakistani government ... .

We're going to have to adopt a strategy in Afghanistan very much like what the surge (of troops in Iraq) was — not just an increase in troops but an increase in our presence and rebuilding and clearing and holding and securing and doing all the things that the surge strategy was all about. We have to work with the Pakistani government. It's not in the Pakistani government's interest to see a resurgance in the Taliban … We have seen a resurgence of suicide bombings in Pakistan. We have seen an increase in tensions between Pakistan and India. It's a problem that has to be worked out and worked out carefully.

About maintaining his bipartisan nature and willingness to find common ground with Democrats while also adhering to strict conservative principles:

I've been able to do both, number one. Number two is: The frustration level that Americans feel, whether they are conservatives or moderates or liberals, about our failure to act in their interests is overwhelming. They want us to get things done, and they want to do it on issues they don't particularly feel are partisan in nature. They want us to fix social security. … I mean, what's partisan about fixing social security? What's conservative or liberal about fixing social security? The system is going broke.

About Obama's statements regarding renegotiating free-trade agreements like NAFTA:

I didn't go into the primary and say I would unilaterally renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which, by the way, the Canadians responded and said, "Yeah, we'll sell our oil to China," and when the primary was over said, "Well, that was overheated rhetoric." I don't do that.

The issue of celebrity comes into this issue. I don't go around and say at a fundraiser in San Francisco (that) people in Pennsylvania are angry and bitter and only have their religious faith and their secular Constitutional rights because they're bitter. I don't do that and come back here and tell them (to vote for me).

Quotes of the Week

"I'll tell you what's the most de-energized of our base — fiscal conservatives — because our spending has gotten completely out of control. (The fiscally conservative) part of our base, I've got to assure them we'll get spending under control."

— McCain during his bus ride from York to Lancaster.

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"What he was saying to the rest of the world is that we need to accept both points of view. He's not judgmental about me or my belief. He just disagrees with me."

— Former Gov. Tom Ridge to Fox News Sunday about comments McCain made recently about Republicans willing to accept a pro-life vice presidential nominee.

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"It would be a sign, if we do it thoughtfully, that we're making an effort, but we're not going to be able to drill our way out of the oil crisis."

— U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter about proposals to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and swaths of ocean off America's coasts to oil drilling.

E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com