CEDAR RAPIDS – Arizona Sen. John McCain on Thursday warned Republican activists that the midterm elections will be a tough test for the party because “the country is not happy with us.”

He was in Iowa to campaign for Republican candidates including Rep. Jim Nussle, who is running for governor in Iowa, and congressional candidate Jeff Lamberti, Iowa’s Senate Republican president.

During the stump, McCain refused to shift his views on topics that rankle the party’s establishment, including ethanol subsidies and gay marriage. He vocally backed President Bush’s tough stance seeking sanctions against Iran for uranium enrichment, and for leaving open the option of military action.

“It’s honesty,” former state legislator Rosemary Thompson said of McCain. “You many not agree with him, but you know where he stands.”

McCain, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 and skipped Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, met privately with the state’s key Republican activists and organizations. He said the visit wasn’t a move toward a potential presidential run.

“I have not decided to run. I’m focused on 2006,” he said, adding that the party needs to stay on track for the upcoming elections.

“We Republicans are going to have a tough race in 2006 because the country is not happy with us,” he said. “We have a 25 percent approval rating in Congress.”

McCain said Republicans, who control Congress and the White House, are in danger of alienating even their base because they can’t rein in spending, which he said is out of control.

“Many of our Republican supports are not happy because we are spending money like a drunken sailor,” he said. “We risk not our base voting Democratic, but what I worry about is there being disillusions with us and (voters) staying home.”

McCain faces some hurdles if he is going to be successful in Iowa, including his long-standing opposition to subsidies for ethanol production in a state that boosts the highest production of the renewable fuel in the nation.

“I was and remain opposed to subsidies,” he told the crowd on Thursday.

He did give one concession for ethanol backers, saying he would support some federal spending for research on alternative energy.

He reiterated his opposition to a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, which the Senate is likely to vote on this summer.

McCain said the only way he could support it is if the courts prohibit states from setting their own marriage laws.

“I intend to vote against it,” he said. “I believe each state should decide.”

McCain also defended his immigration proposal that would allow illegal aliens the potential to earn citizenship. He said that angers some conservatives who see it as a form of amnesty.

The 11 million people in the country illegally, he argued, are “the product of a broken policy.”

“I don’t know how you would send them back, and I don’t know why you would send them back,” he said.

State Rep. Jeff Elgin, R-Cedar Rapids, said he was impressed by McCain’s independence.

“He is willing to take a stand and tell you where he is,” Elgin said.