SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Former first lady Nancy Reagan endorsed John McCain for president Tuesday as the Arizona senator continued to collect the backing of leading Republicans who might help him win over critical conservative voters.

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Now certain to win the GOP nomination, McCain is on the west coast this week to raise money. He was to stop by the Southern California home of former President Ronald Reagan's widow to accept her endorsement.

In a statement before the event, Reagan said she typically waits until after the GOP convention to announce her support but she decided to do so now because it is clear the Republican Party has chosen its nominee.

"John McCain has been a good friend for over 30 years," Reagan said. "My husband and I first came to know him as a returning Vietnam War POW, and were impressed by the courage he had shown through his terrible ordeal. I believe John's record and experience have prepared him well to be our next president."

Reagan's eventual support was expected, and she will become the latest top Republican to fall in line behind McCain. She and McCain have long been close, and it was only a matter of time before she spoke up for her friend.

Her endorsement could help McCain shore up the backing of conservatives who long have viewed him skeptically for his record of breaking with the party on some issues they hold dear. At the same time, Reagan's nod also could help further align him with the former president who attracted Democratic as well as Republican voters.

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The former first lady has nurtured her husband's legacy and has generally stayed out of the political spotlight in recent years, with a few exceptions. She remained quiet during the multi-candidate fight for the GOP nod but did attend debates held at her husband's presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif.

In 2006, she lobbied in favor of legislation to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, a position McCain shares, but President Bush vetoed the bill. President Reagan suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

She also waded into the Virginia Senate race that year when Democratic candidate James Webb, who once served as Navy secretary in the Reagan administration, ran an ad featuring 1985 video footage of President Reagan praising his gallantry as a Marine. Nancy Reagan's office sent a letter to the Webb campaign objecting to the use of the Reagan footage.

McCain Addresses Latino Small-Business Owners In Santa Ana

The federal government should not bail out lenders or home buyers who entered into irresponsible mortgage agreements, McCain told a group of Latino small-business owners in Santa Ana on Tuesday, adding that government assistance must be accompanied by changes to prevent a future lending-industry crisis.

"I've always been committed to the principle that it's not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they're big banks or small borrowers," McCain said at the beginning of an Orange County Hispanic Small Business Roundtable at CH Letterpress Inc.

"Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy," he said. "In our effort to help deserving homeowners, no assistance should be given to speculators. Any assistance for borrowers should be focused solely on homeowners, not people who bought houses for speculative purposes to rent, or a second home. Any assistance must be temporary and must not reward people who are irresponsible at the expense of those who weren't.

"... My fellow Americans, when we commit taxpayer dollars as assistance, it should be accompanied by reforms that ensure that we never face this problem again. Central to those reforms should be transparency and accountability. Homeowners should be able to understand easily the terms and obligations of a mortgage. that's pretty simple. In return, they have an obligation to provide truthful financial information and should be subject to penalties if they do not."

Video: McCain Visits Santa Ana

McCain's comments came on the second day of a three-day Southern California visit -- his first to the Golden State since becoming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. He is also expected to attend fundraisers in Newport Beach and Bel-Air.

Protesters from both sides of the ideological spectrum plan to protest McCain's $2,300 per-person fundraiser at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach. Members of AFL-CIO-affiliated unions will demonstrate against McCain's stands on economic issues as part of its "McCain Revealed" campaign. A "Stop Illegal Immigration Rally" is also planned for outside the hotel.

McCain began the trip Monday with two appearances in San Diego County, where he reiterated his support for a continued U.S. presence in Iraq.

At a "town hall" meeting with military families in Chula Vista, McCain outlined progress made by U.S. forces in Iraq, then said: "If we set a date for withdrawal -- the way that Senator (Hillary Rodham) Clinton and Senator (Barack) Obama want to do it -- all of that will be lost and there will be chaos and genocide in the region and we will be back."

"My Democrat opponents who want to pull out of Iraq refuse to understand what's being said and what's happening and that is the central battleground is Iraq in this struggle against radical Islamic extremism."

In a statement issued Monday in connection the number of deaths of American servicemen and women in Iraq reaching 4,000, Obama, D-Ill. said "it is past time to end this war that should never have been waged by bringing our troops home and finally pushing Iraq's leaders to take responsibility for their future."

Clinton, D-N.Y. issued a statement pledging to bring "a responsible end to this war and bringing our troops home safely."

McCain was greeted by applause and a standing ovation by about 200 veterans and active military service men and women and their families during the meeting at the VFW Post 2111.

In his first appearance of the day, about two dozen demonstrators picketed outside McCain's $1,000-a-plate fundraising luncheon at the La Jolla Marriott. Most were opposed to U.S. involvement in the Iraq War, carrying signs reading "No to 100 Years of War," "No More Blood for Oil," and "Troops Home Vote Dem."

The event, like a later $2,300-per-person fundraiser at the Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, was closed to the news media.