"If you ever get a chance to host someone who is truly an American hero, it's an honor to be able to do that," Simmons said. "I'm a great believer in the Republican Party and honored to be able to support this event for Senator McCain."

Simmons said McCain talked about his thoughts on the Iraq war and the role America needs to play. The senator answered questions on a wide range of topics, including whom he might choose as a running mate. McCain wasn't ready to announce his choice for vice president, Simmons said.

Earlier in the day, the senator told reporters that the Iraq war "is beginning to show some signs of success, although it is going to be very long and hard and difficult." Leaving, he said, "is going to leave genocide, and these people will follow us home."

McCain faced criticism from the Democrats Thursday after he used the word "wasted" to describe the more than 3,100 U.S. lives lost in the Iraq war.

"I should have used the word, sacrificed, as I have in the past," the Arizona senator said after Democrats demanded he apologize as Sen. Barack Obama did when the White House hopeful recently made the same observation.

"No one appreciates and honors more than I do the selfless patriotism of American servicemen and women in the Iraq war," McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, said in a statement.

On Wednesday night, McCain said on CBS's "Late Show With David Letterman": "Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives."

Simmons was among the 500 or so Utahns who spent up to $2,300 to attend a fund-raiser for Romney held at the Grand America Hotel last month. Romney raised well over $1 million there and at another event in St. George.

Romney on Thursday was in New Hampshire, where he criticized McCain's stance on immigration.

"I don't agree with it; I think it's the wrong course," Romney said, according to the Associated Press. "I do not believe amnesty is the right course for the 11 or 12 million illegal immigrants who are living here. It didn't work in the 1980s; it's not going to work in the 2000s, either."

McCain responded in Utah, saying, "On immigration, I think we need a comprehensive approach to it. So does the president of the United States and most Americans.... None of us support amnesty, and we must secure our borders."

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Romney also slammed McCain for opposing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. McCain told reporters in Utah that he believes "in the sanctity of marriage between man and woman. But I believe the states should decide."

McCain was set to appear at a reception early Thursday evening for executives from JPMorgan Chase, a global financial-services firm, at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Deer Valley.

Before he leaves Utah this morning, McCain is scheduled to meet with reporters again at the Grand America Hotel.

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Contributing: Associated Press.

E-mail: lisa@desnews.com