Gov. Linda Lingle is traveling for the third time on behalf of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, hoping to sway voters in battleground states east of the Mississippi River.

Lingle started her trip east on Sunday with an official visit to Fort Hood, Texas, where she dined with some 1,700 members of the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, a unit of the Hawaii National Guard that is to deploy to Kuwait next week.

But the governor on Monday began a weeklong swing through a number of states where the McCain campaign thinks she can be helpful in attracting support.

Her first stop will be Tuesday in Pittsburgh, when she meets with campaign volunteers, visits a Jewish community center and then delivers a speech at a Jewish temple.

Her schedule the rest of the week is still sketchy, according to senior adviser Lenny Klompus. But Lingle on Wednesday night is to speak at a union hall in Cleveland, Ohio, in a joint appearance with a surrogate for Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

As one of several proxies, the McCain campaign is directing Lingle where it thinks she might do the most good. Thus Lingle, who is Jewish, has appeared before several Jewish groups.

Lingle has said she considers it important to barnstorm for McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, because she believes their tax policies would best aid Hawai'i's economy.

Klompus said the governor "wants to be as helpful as possible" to McCain. Despite polls showing Obama running ahead, "I think she's very upbeat. The crowds that are coming out, they're excited."

But she has been criticized by Democrats for leaving the state while it faces a large, looming budget deficit and an economy that already is encountering difficulties.

Andy Winer, Hawai'i director for Obama's effort, called Lingle's latest trip "now officially ridiculous. Governor Lingle should be in Kane'ohe not Cleveland and Pahoa not Pittsburgh."

Lingle is using vacation days for the trip, as is the one aide traveling with her, Corrie Heck.