Boy are the 'Peeing Red' Trolls going to be pissed?
December 20, 2007
Eight years ago, Arizona Sen. John McCain was the front-runner in the Republican presidential primary, leading then Texas Gov. George Bush and pulling away.
Today, McCain is the underdog, but two polls show him gaining ground in the Granite State after a week of endorsements from major media, from former Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, and from a former secretary of state to two Presidents, Henry Kissinger.
One poll showed the Arizona senator in what could be considered a dead heat with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
"We're firing on all cylinders," said Mike Dennehy, McCain's national political director.
"Everything is coming together perfectly and
right when we needed it."
McCain has been courting independents, the state's largest voting bloc. He notes many New Hampshire voters are still undecided.
In an interview last night on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," McCain predicted he would win in New Hampshire, but said, "Whether I 'win' or not is up to you and others (in the media) ... It's expectations."
He attributed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's recent surge in Iowa and national polls to Huckabee's entertaining debate performances and his "likability."
"He comes across as a very decent person who has a sense of humor," McCain said. "The thing I regret is, we have not talked about his health care (plan). We have not talked about education, the war, Iran."
The latest Rasmussen Reports' New Hampshire poll shows Romney with 31 percent, McCain at 27 percent and no one else within striking distance.
The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percent, which puts the candidates in a dead heat.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani attracts 13 percent, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is at 11 percent.
Before the latest endorsements, Romney had 33 percent support and McCain 18. In late-November, Romney led by 19 points and was up by 15 in early November.
According to the latest CNN/WMUR New Hampshire Primary Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, McCain has overtaken Giuliani for second place behind Romney, who has maintained a steady lead with 34 to 32 percent for the last two months.
McCain has 22 percent of the likely Republican voters -- up from 18 percent -- a week ago, while Giuliani has dropped from 19 to 16 percent since last week. Huckabee, who leads polls in Iowa, is fourth with 10 percent and Texas Congressman Ron Paul is fifth with 5 percent.
Romney's New Hampshire campaign spokesman Craig Smith said, "We continue to see that Gov. Romney's support is strong throughout the state. ... He's the one candidate talking about securing our borders, cutting taxes and strengthening families and those issues are very important to New Hampshire voters."
Dennehy said the polls "validates what we are feeling on the ground. With every town hall meeting with John McCain, we have more and more people coming up after and telling (McCain) 'You've got my vote,' which is what occurred in 2000. When the buzz started to occur, that's when things really took off for us."
The UNH Survey Center poll contacted 411 likely Republican voters and 469 likely Democratic voters with a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percent. Voters were contacted between Dec. 13 and 17 for the poll.
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