CINCINNATI -- Republican John McCain on Thursday tried to sway undecided voters, especially the under-30 crowd, by reiterating his position that he doesn't want to raise taxes and doesn't see any scenario where that would happen.

McCain also told an audience in a town hall meeting at Xavier University that the federal government has to get wasteful and unnecessary spending under control.

"We have to reach across the aisle because we're going to have to reform the institutions of government," he said.

The Republican presidential candidate answered questions for about an hour on topics including the Iraq war, the economy and energy. No Republican has ever lost Ohio and won the White House, and only two Democrats have done so in more than a century.

Kari Tool, 20, said she was impressed and is leaning toward McCain, but still not certain.

"I like the experience of McCain. I like that he knows the system and can get things done," said Tool, of Fort Wayne, Ind. "But I also kind of like the fact that (Barack) Obama is not quite jaded yet by the political process of Washington, and he still has his dreams of change and hope and all those little key words he likes to say."

"It's very frustrating that not a lot gets accomplished because they can't combine for a bipartisan solution to our problems," she said.

McCain has demonstrated that he's not conceding the youth vote to his younger Democratic rival. McCain, 71, a veteran political leader with a military background, has reached out to young voters in the ways they reach each other, through YouTube.com and with profiles on the social networking Web sites MySpace and Facebook.

In polls earlier this year, the under-30 crowd tended to favor a Democrat over McCain, though a recent AP-Yahoo News poll indicated he was in a tight race against Obama in that age group.

McCain's success with those voters will depend partly on what share of his resources are targeted at young people between now and November, said Gene Beaupre, a Xavier University political scientist.

"There will be a component of his voting bloc that's going to be traditional, young Republican voters," he said. "Whether he's going to get into that swing, into that independent, into these new voters, and whether they'll show up, that is another question."

His appearances in Cincinnati and in the Youngstown area Friday are part of McCain's first trip to Ohio since Obama locked up enough delegates to become the apparent Democratic nominee.

Through May, Obama donors had given more than double the roughly $120 million raised by McCain's campaign, so the Republican is trying to catch up in the money chase.

Tickets to a Thursday evening McCain fundraiser in Cincinnati started at $2,300 for a general reception. Also scheduled were a VIP reception and photo opportunity for individuals or couples who raise $10,000 and a dinner for those who raise $50,000.

A group of protesters gathered outside Schmidt Hall to show their disapproval of McCain’s support for some Bush administration policies.

Prior to the speech, McCain and his entourage made a swing through the Skyline Chili at Fourth and Sycamore, meeting employees and customers before grabbing some grub to go.

If you're curious, McCain had a 3-way.