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From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann and NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one insisting that she shouldn’t be counted out.

At the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., today, John McCain fielded a question from a woman who noted the Arizona senator’s harsh words for -- almost exclusively -- Barack Obama.

“At least, officially, Hillary Clinton is still in the race,” the questioner pointed out.

McCain responded by launching into a particularly effusive paragraph of praise for the New York senator, noting her groundbreaking candidacy in the Democratic primary.

“Yes, Sen. Clinton is still in the race,” he agreed, going on to say that “she has inspired generations of American women to believe that they can reach the highest office in this nation.”

Although she faces swirling rumors of an impending campaign disintegration, McCain said today that her political brand shouldn’t be underestimated.

"A few of us who have been around politics for a while learned a lesson way back in 1992 that you better never count a Clinton out of any race,” McCain said.

The presumptive GOP nominee often has kind words for the candidate once viewed as the inevitable nominee of the Democratic Party. Particularly in recent days, he has sometimes gone out of his way to praise her tenacity and resilience. He even made the somewhat unusual move of calling to congratulate her after her recent win in the West Virginia primary.

His description of Clinton has not always been rosy. In the early days of the primary season, McCain used her once-proposed appropriation of funds for a Woodstock musuem as one of the jokey centerpieces of his crusade against government waste. (He famously joked that he “was tied up at the time” of the 1969 iconic concert. It even inspired one of his TV commercials.) And in the bitter coldness of his lonely treks through Iowa, McCain gleefully hammered her for stating that a progress report on Iraq from General David Petraeus required “a willing suspension of disbelief.”

Not so today. When McCain mentioned last year’s flap over Petraeus’ testimony, his indignation was reserved for Obama alone. He mentioned Obama’s refusal to vote on a highly political senate resolution to condemn an anti-Petraeus ad run at the time by liberal group MoveOn.org.

“It's hard to understand why Sen. Obama would not vote in favor of a resolution that condemns an advertisement by a far, far left liberal organization that questions Gen. Petraeus' patriotism,” he said today.

No mention of Clinton, who voted against the measure outright