SAN DIEGO – While the Democrats convene in Denver, Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain flew to San Diego Tuesday night for a private fundraiser at The Grand Del Mar hotel.

McCain's Boeing 737, with the words “Straight Talk Express” on the lower half of the fuselage, landed in an area of Lindbergh Field next to FedEx planes shortly before 5 p.m.

He got out of the plane about eight minutes later, and spent a few minutes greeting students and campaign volunteers assembled on the tarmac before leaving in a Chevrolet Suburban for the fundraiser.

He did not make remarks to members of the media, who were kept about 50 yards away.

According to his campaign, the group meeting McCain included George Kailas, a high school student; Justine Ross, a student at the University of California Irvine and a volunteer office manager for the McCain campaign in San Diego; Jason Miller, a volunteer; Mildred Creager, his Coronado office manager, and her husband, Hugh Gunder Creager, a retired Navy pilot who flew reconnaissance missions in Vietnam; Michael Griffith, a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara; and Melinda Phan, a high school student from Newport Beach.

Earlier Tuesday, McCain was in Phoenix, where the former Navy aviator and prisoner of war spoke to a convention of the American Legion.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is scheduled to address the group on Wednesday.

McCain plans to spend Wednesday in Arizona to shoot campaign videos and work on his acceptance speech for the Republican convention next week, his campaign said.

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