WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain's brother made an apparent joke at a campaign rally this weekend that might not play well in parts of newly competitive Virginia.

Joe McCain, speaking at an event in support of his brother, called two Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia "communist country," according to a report on The Washington Post's Web site.

"I've lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country," Joe McCain, a Navy veteran, said at an event in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Joe McCain then apologized, but the remark drew laughter at the event, according to the report.

Virginia has has been a Republican stronghold in presidential elections, but Democrat Barack Obama is running even or ahead of his Republican rival in state polls. Mr. Obama is being helped by fast-growing communities in the Washington suburbs of Northern Virginia, which tend to vote more Democratic than other parts of the state.

"This was Joe McCain's unsuccessful attempt at humor," McCain campaign spokesman Gail Gitcho said. "John McCain and Sarah Palin are committed to winning the support of voters in Northern Virginia and understand the region's importance to victory statewide."

Meanwhile, seven Alaska state employees have reversed course and agreed to testify in an abuse-of-power investigation against Mrs. Palin.

Mrs. Palin, a first-term Alaska governor, is the focus of an inquiry into whether she abused her office by firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Mr. Monegan said he was dismissed because he wouldn't fire the governor's former brother-in-law.

First Published October 6, 2008, 8:51 a.m.