Washington ? Angry Boeing supporters are vowing revenge against Republican presidential candidate John McCain over Chicago-based Boeing’s loss of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to the parent company of European plane maker Airbus.

There are other targets for their ire – the Air Force, the defense secretary and even the entire Bush administration.

But Boeing supporters in Congress are directing their wrath at McCain for scuttling an earlier deal that would have let Boeing build the next generation of Air Force refueling tankers.

Rep. Todd Tiahrt, a Kansas Republican whose district includes a Boeing plant that could have gained hundreds of new jobs from the tanker program, said McCain’s role in killing the earlier deal is likely to become an election issue.

“We’ll hear it mostly from the Democrats and they have every right to be concerned,” Tiahrt said.