Sen. John McCain speaks in Cedar Falls. (Captured from CNN.com video.)

Trailing in most battleground states and facing a steep climb to victory, McCain was repeatedly confronted with questions about whether he can still win the election during a live broadcast of NBC’s Meet the Press, moderated by Tom Brokaw from the studios of KWWL in Waterloo.

McCain said he disputes the polls showing U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, his Democratic opponent, with a double-digit lead nationally. “It all depends on the voter turnout model,” he said. “We are very competitive in many of the battleground states.”

Later, on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, McCain addressed a crowd of about 2,000 — a far cry from the 10,000 his runningmate drew a day earlier in the larger city of Des Moines — repeating familiar criticism of his opponent’s economic policy. “Sen. Obama’s tax increases would put even more people out of work,” McCain said. “We’ve seen this before in other countries, and it doesn’t work.”

He also said he planned to support new energy production, including offshore oil drilling, wind, solar, and ethanol. “We’ll invest in all energy sources,” McCain said. He has previously said — in debates, interviews, and campaign speeches — that he would end “ethanol subsidies.”

The Arizona senator placed more emphasis on the notion that Democratic leaders in Congress would be unchecked in an Obama administration. When McCain mentioned U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the crowd booed in agreement with their candidate.

Then, he shifted to the horse race. “Let me tell you about the state of the race today,” he said. “The pundits, as usual, have written us off.”

Obama “is measuring the drapes. He’s planned his first address to the nation for before the election,” McCain said, referring to the 30-minute national television advertisement that the Obama campaign has scheduled for Wednesday night on CBS, NBC, and FOX. “I prefer to let the voters weigh in before presuming the outcome.”

“I am an American, and I choose to fight,” McCain said, building to a crescendo as he finished his speech. “Don’t give up hope. Be strong. Have courage, and fight.”

Unless the dynamics of the presidential race change soon, McCain will likely find himself repeating those words often over the next nine days.

Update 7:54 p.m. — Campus is no longer in lockdown. Official word is released that the suspect was taken into custody in the Des Moines area, roughly a two-hour drive from the UNI campus.

Further coverage of the situation as it developed is located below the fold.

Minutes ago officials at the University of Northern Iowa used their newly established emergency alert system to warn of a possible gunman on campus.

The alert, which also posts to the university web site, cautioned students and faculty to stay away from Dancer Hall. No new updates have been distributed via the alert system and Little information is currently available.

A second alert, distributed roughly 30 minutes following the first vague warning about Dancer Hall reads:

“UNI Police have received a threat of a gunman coming to campus to confront a student in Dancer Hall. Dancer Hall is locked down. Please stay away from the towers area — Dancer Hall, Bender Hall and Towers Center. More updates to follow.”

Students located on campus are receiving frequent verbal announcements via audio systems.

All dorms on campus are currently locked down, requiring students to use keys to enter the facilities. A university spokeswoman said that a threat made by telephone prompted activation of the alert system.

A UNI student and friend, both signed up to receive emergency alerts, have stated that the new system worked perfectly. Both received text and voice messages advising them of the potential danger on campus.

Eyewitnesses are also reporting that it was a boyfriend of a Dancer Hall resident who made the threat. The dorm resident is the person who reported the potential danger to the authorities. There is currently no word if the suspected gunman actually entered the campus, but law enforcement continues to hold vigil.

Dancer Hall is located at the north end of campus, near Towers Center and parking lots that serve the Price Lab and Campbell Hall.

UNI officials only recently completed their first full-scale test of the new emergency alert system. Similar to those adopted by the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, the UNI alert system is able to send voice, email and text messages to students, faculty and staff within minutes. Alerts were also integrated to include the UNI homepage and are anticipated to be expanded to include a campus-wide loudspeaker system.

The university’s nearly 13,000 students and 2,000 faculty had been updating emergency contact information for more than two months prior to the first full-scale test at the end of February.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier has comment from a sophomore student who has been in a room on the 12th floor of Dancer Hall since 5:20 p.m. Courier staff is also reporting that doors to the dorm are being protected by members of the Cedar Falls Police Department and campus security.

UNI will serve as the lead institution for this new project that involves creation of a Regents Campus Gender Violence Prevention Task Force. Participation will also include Iowa State University in Ames and the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

“Iowa’s universities are taking much-needed action to educate our students and communities about reducing campus violence against women,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, who supported this grant as part of his continual efforts to end violence against women. “They are doing the right thing in implementing vital programs that increase safety. Violence against women remains a major problem, but with these funds we can help women get the support they need to overcome these terrible acts.”

The UNI flagship project will use funding to support creation of the task force to coordinate a wide variety of initiatives. Those include implementing a mandatory new student education program, enhancing campus police training, developing courses and curricula to better include information on victim services and gender violence prevention and creating a statewide Men’s Gender Violence Prevention Institute.

“As a dad of a female college student, I truly recognize the importance of providing institutions with the proper resources to reduce violent crimes against women,” said Rep. Bruce Braley, who represents Iowa’s 1st District, which includes Cedar Falls and the UNI campus. “By creating a task force that examines the pattern of violence on Iowa campuses, police and school administrators will be able to work towards reducing these crimes and can better provide students with the information they need to be better educated and aware of the issue.”

UNI will also partner with the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Seeds of Hope, the Cedar Falls Police Department and the attorney general’s Victim Assistance Division.