Posted on 01/07/2008 6:02:56 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Salem, New Hampshire - At a town meeting much like hundreds that he has held here over two presidential campaigns, John McCain was questioned, scolded, praised, cheered and heckled Sunday.
Protesters interrupted him, and one voter who said he supported McCain in 2000 told the senator that he wasn't as keen on him this time around.
"You're in purgatory right now" with me, the man told McCain.
"Well, thank you very much," McCain said. "It's a step up from where I was last summer."
After the near disintegration of his campaign last year, McCain, an Arizona senator, has forced himself back into a muddled Republican equation, overtaking rival Mitt Romney in most polls going into Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.
The two have traded attack ads, and they clashed in GOP debates Saturday and Sunday. While McCain faces his own challenges in New Hampshire, Romney had a very up-and-down weekend. Interviewed by ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Romney conceded that he was wrong in Saturday's debate when he denied airing ads accusing McCain of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants. One of Romney's TV spots makes that very charge. "I had not seen that one," Romney said of his own ad.
He also made a surprising admission after Stephanopoulos suggested that the label of "flip-flopper" was hurting him.
"Yeah, I think the McCain campaign from the very beginning did a masterful political job of trying to tag me with that, and it keeps on being promoted and promulgated, and that's just the way it is. I have to live with that," said Romney, who has changed his position on abortion in recent years.
But after spending Saturday's debate on the defensive, he seemed to bounce back in Sunday's Fox News debate. Different playing field
The GOP race here is dramatically different from the Iowa caucuses won by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Thursday. Evangelical Christians are far less a factor in this state, depriving Huckabee, a Baptist minister, of his political base.
Huckabee is not well known here; in an interview, one voter referred to him as Rev. Huckabee.
Unlike in Iowa, McCain and Romney both have histories here: McCain in winning the 2000 primary against George W. Bush, Romney as the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts.
A major difference between the two states is that New Hampshire is a primary, not a caucus, drawing a far higher share of eligible voters, including large numbers of unaffiliated independents. Although those voters fueled McCain's 2000 win over Bush, this time most independents are expected to vote in the Democratic primary - drawn in good part by Barack Obama.
That makes McCain's task tougher. But no one is without their burdens and baggage in this field, and the fact that no single candidate has across-the-board strength gives hope to all.
"Most people didn't expect me to even be in the race. Nobody expected me to win Iowa," Huckabee told Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.
"You're in fourth place, right now, in the polls," Stephanopoulos told him, referring to New Hampshire.
"Oh, so if I'm in third, that'll be better than expected," said Huckabee, who like McCain sparred sharply with Romney during the weekend.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who once expected to contend here, now is battling Texas Rep. Ron Paul for fourth in some New Hampshire polls. Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson lags badly. Paul was deemed not competitive enough to be included by Fox News in Sunday's GOP debate, a controversial decision that led the state Republican party to withdraw sponsorship. Paul did participate in Saturday's ABC debate.
Echoes of 2000
Whether the back-to-back debates have helped sort things out on the GOP side is unclear. Romney, the biggest spender in the race, appears to irritate his rivals and attracted insults from all sides in Saturday's forum. When Romney told Huckabee, "Don't try and characterize my position," Huckabee shot back, "Which one?"
When Romney touted himself as a candidate of change, McCain said derisively: "We disagree on a lot of issues, but I agree you are the candidate of change." When Romney defended the mandates in his Massachusetts health care plan, saying, "Let me tell you what kind of mandates I like, Fred," Thompson answered: "The ones you come up with." Giuliani suggested that even President Reagan would have been a target of "one of Mitt's negative commercials."
Asked on ABC on Sunday about taking "hits from just about everyone on that stage," Romney said it was a sign of strength, saying: "The guy with the ball is the guy people are trying to tackle. So, I'm delighted to have everybody talking about me."
Having slipped behind in the polls here, Romney stepped up his criticism of McCain on Sunday on the stump, on news shows and at the debate. He singled out McCain's vote against the Bush tax cuts and attacked his support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Romney suggested that McCain was too much of a rebel within the GOP, saying he was "a maverick against his own party" on some issues, such as campaign finance. But he also sought to portray McCain as too much a Senate veteran to bring change.
"He's just been there 27 years and hasn't been able to get the job done," Romney said on Fox News.
"We're not going to have somebody inside Washington turn Washington inside out," he said at Sunday's debate.
"I have been an agent of change," McCain responded, citing his early critique of the "Rumsfeld strategy" in Iraq and push for a troop surge. "I don't know of a better change than saving American lives."
Although McCain might be on the rebound politically, reproducing the energy of his insurgent 2000 campaign might be too much to expect.
His packed event in a school gym Sunday felt less like a boosterish campaign rally than a constituent meeting in which all concerns and complaints are heard. He answered dozens of questions on everything from the Armenian genocide to schools to outsourcing to Iran. He fielded praise and criticism. He allowed extended follow-up questions from people who disagreed with him. He soldiered on when numerous protesters, seeking more money for global AIDS programs, repeatedly interrupted the session. At one point, he told them to quiet down or they might have to answer to McCain's supporters.
"Wilford Brimley is here!" McCain warned, drawing laughter. The actor was in fact present.
Since McCain won in New Hampshire in 2000, he has alienated some independents by defending an unpopular war and some conservatives over his immigration bill and the campaign regulations that he wrote with Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold. His basic sales pitch still is patriotism, service and "straight talk." His standard speech still rails at spending and corruption, but it now is dominated by the issues of war and security and the credit he takes for advocating the troop surge in Iraq.
His rationale for getting elected? "I believe that I can make this world safe," he declared.
Some in the crowd who voted for him in 2000 said they weren't sure this time around. Some, such as registered independent Marilyn Springmann, said they would vote for him again. "He got a little older, but so did I. He's still the same guy," she said.
This was how McCain, 71, put it when asked about his age toward the end of Sunday's debate: "Look, I'm older than dirt. I've got more scars than Frankenstein, but I've learned a few things along the way."
Huckabee kicked butt in Iowa and exceeded expectations. And McCain is exceeding expectations as he was written off for dead last summer. Romney was supposed to win NH, if he doesn’t then he fails to meet the expectations.
This is the latest poll I could find in Michigan....I am sure it will have changed.
EPIC/MRA for The Detroit News and WXYZ TV
Mid-date: 12/18/2007
Michigan
Mitt Romney 21%
Mike Huckabee 19%
Rudy Giuliani 12%
John McCain 10%
Ron Paul 4%
Fred Thompson 4%
Tom Tancredo 1%
Duncan Hunter 1%
Unsure 26%
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/state-polls/michigan-presidential-polls.html
Yes, I agree that it surely has changed. I’ve been frustrated that I can’t find a Michigan poll taken after the Iowa results.
I can’t see Huckabee gaining there if he doesn’t do well in NH.
I agree. McCain has been picking up support at the expense of Rudy. I would expect to see McCain competing with Romney, with a third place finish for Huckabee.
Michigan allows democrats to vote in the republican primary, so the results could really be skewed.
Agreed. The point is that Romney can’t lose to Huckabee in Iowa, lose to McCain in New Hampshire, lose to McCain again in Michigan and still be standing. Nobody can recover from that.
Who will have more delegates than Romney, should he lose to McCain in NH?
“lose to McCain again in Michigan”
Now I know you are smoking something.
Wouldn’t it be better for Fred if McCain wins NH? The way Rush was talking today, it seems likely that McCain will have a tough time winning the southern states and the border states, so he will most likely not be winning many more states. If Romney wins NH, then he’ll have momentum to win more states, like SC. If he loses to McCain, then he most likely will lose momentum, and not do well in subsequent states, leaving the door open for Fred to do well in these states. Or am I wrong?
Romney will have the most delegates for the moment, but he will have lost the two big races which, even he acknowledged, he needed to win in order to become the nominee. Having lost to McCain, he will be down for the count.
So who are you pushing?
I think there is more attacking of republicans at this site than on the dem forums.
The problem is, if McCain wins NH, he could end up as the nominee. We had a heck of a time taking him down in 2000 after he won NH. And we had George W. Bush running against him. Today, and I really like FRed, we don’t have an anti-McCain candidate nearly as strong as Bush.
Help me understand how Mitt wins Michigan after losing Iowa and losing New Hampshire? If Mitt wins tomorrow, McCain dries up and blows away and I support Fred Thompson. But I dont see how Mitt wins Michigan after losing the two big early contests.
You’re kidding right? I am a proud McCain supporter. Should McCain lose tomorrow night, I’ll support my second choice, Fred Thompson.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.