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Could Mitt Romney and John McCain turn out to be the hidden arrows in Marco Rubio's political quiver in New Hampshire?[continued]

Globe political reporter James Pindell made a smart, under-appreciated point in his Ground Game newsletter Thursday (subscribe to it here: bostonglobe.com/groundgame): When it comes to the establishment lane, most candidates are looking to New Hampshire for clues. Sure, if someone like Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Ohio’s Governor John Kasich, or Rubio wins the Granite State, then Republicans will likely have an establishment option in March. But here’s the current trajectory of the race: US Senator Ted Cruz has the momentum to win Iowa, and Donald Trump is on a similar path to win...

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – The Republican establishment has flexed its muscle in New Hampshire's presidential primaries for years. But in the unpredictable 2016 election, the state's standard political playbook faces challenges on two fronts. Donald Trump's brash brand of populism is resonating with voters, and he's sustained a commanding lead in statewide preference polls for months. While several experienced politicians are well-liked, some party elites fear none will emerge as a consensus choice in time for the Feb. 9 primary, allowing Trump to win a plurality...

I haven’t seen anyone really go out on a limb yet and make predictions about the Republican primaries. So it's time to engage in some wildly premature political punditry. This, of course, is risky. There are so many variables. What happens if one candidate drops out and scrambles things? What is more, factors in the political universe - say, God forbid, another terrorist attack - can quickly swing public opinion. (Remember how Ben Carson’s numbers declined after the Paris attacks?) It is with all these caveats disclosed that I boldly present my picks. The good news is that these predictions...

How the former Florida governor, once shy about his famous last name, is leaning on his family's network. For months, Jeb Bush has insisted he's his "own man." Now, he's mobilizing his family's expansive network as he searches for momentum amid the dominance of Donald Trump and the rise of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Starting next month, Bush's campaign will deploy hundreds of his brother and father's former White House aides to early primary states to assist in canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts. The plan, which has been hashed out in private emails and phone calls for months, is taking...

A day after chiding the media for, as he put it, allowing Trump to play them like a violin, it was Jeb Bush who decided to bring up the real estate mogul, during a panel discussion with young professionals. Bush was asked by a name two historical figures and one celebrity he'd invite to a party. His answer came immediately. "I would not invite Donald Trump." Winston Churchill and Neil Armstrong would be welcome at his party, said Bush, but it was a firm no thanks on the celebrities. "I really don't believe in celebrity. I find it superficial."(continued)

About This Petition Jennifer Horn's comments regarding the 2016 Presidential Candidacy of Donald Trump jeopardize the primary process, and the first in the nation primary. As chairman of the Republican Party, she should be criticizing Democrats, not fellow Republicans. Furthermore Jennifer Horn's statements are in direct violation to the State Party's Bylaws Article II section 1 Paragraph two, which reads : "...they shall remain strictly neutral in any such primary contest..." In addition; Jennifer Horn has failed to recognized the legitimate Chair of the New Hampshire Young Republicans; denying their voice on the Executive Committee under Article IV Section 1...

For all of the candidates, all of the debates and all of the unpredictability, the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 has taken a clear shape over the past month or so. There is a four-candidate top tier that has separated itself from the rest of the pack. There is then a trio of “if/then” candidates who would need a major mistake or collapse from one of the top four to have a realistic chance at winning. Everyone else running has a puncher’s chance — at best — at being relevant in the nomination fight. Below are my...

For Republicans fearful of Donald Trump becoming their party’s presidential nominee, a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters offers a three-word solution: Willard Mitt Romney. If the former Massachusetts governor were added to the mix of the 14 other Republican candidates running in the Feb. 9 first-in-the-nation presidential primary, New Hampshire voters would, if the election were held now, give him a 2-to-1 win over Trump, the leader of the field. Romney, who said as recently as last week that he is not interested in running, did not file for the New Hampshire primary...

According the Politico, the presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100% is firing on all cylinders. “He has more cash than any other Republican candidate. He is organized in every county in the first four voting states. And he has served up one strong debate performance after the next.” That, of course, makes him a threat to the Bush/Open Borders wing of the Republican Party. “He’s the longer-term threat,” said Fergus Cullen, the former chairman of the New Hampshire GOP and a Republican who does not support Cruz. “I suspect once Trump goes down, people like me will have...

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s campaign denounced Hillary Clinton on Monday over comments she made in a New Hampshire Town Hall that highlighted her support of a U.S.-Mexico border as a tool to deter Latin American immigrants from entering the country illegally. The comments came after O’Malley himself blasted Clinton over her immigration record on Sunday at an immigration forum in Nevada which she did attend, a fact that the former Gov. was happy to underscore. Clinton’s border wall comments came in response to a question from an audience member who asked “What you think about securing the border with...

Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz are the first two presidential candidates to be challenged on their eligibility to file in the New Hampshire primary. Sanders is being challenged on the basis of his longtime affiliation as an independent senator by little-known Republican presidential candidate Andy Martin. Cruz’s candidacy is being questioned by a Pennsylvania man named Carmon Elliott because the Texas senator was born in Canada. Both appeals will be heard Nov. 24 by the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission, at which time Martin and Elliott must demonstrate their claims are legitimate. “Until someone tells me otherwise, we are going...

Includes Former NHGOP Secretary Diane Bitter, 2010 Gubernatorial Candidate and Former NHGOP Chairman Jack Kimball, and 2014 Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew HemingwayMANCHESTER, N.H. - Presidential candidate Ted Cruz today at a press conference in Manchester named 70 more people to his New Hampshire leadership team, which now totals 177 New Hampshirites located all across the state actively working to elect Ted Cruz for President. Among the new members are former NHGOP Secretary Diane Bitter, 2010 Gubernatorial Candidate and former NHGOP Chairman Jack Kimball, and 2014 Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Hemingway.Previously announced leadership team members are listed here and here. Newly announced leadership...

State Rep. Pam Tucker has filed an exploratory committee to consider a run for the Republican nomination for the 1st District Congressional seat. Tucker is the third Republican to express interest in the seat, along with incumbent U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta and former UNH Paul Business School Dean Dan Innis, who ran in 2014. “New Hampshire families continue to suffer from a dysfunctional Washington, D.C. and its politicians who kick the can down the road,” said Tucker in a press release announcing the committee. “New Hampshire deserves a new voice to solve Washington’s old problems.” Tucker is serving her fourth...

CONWAY — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham hopes history will repeat itself in the Granite State. Graham, one of 16 presidential candidates seeking to become the Republican Party's nominee next year, is taking a page out of his good friend Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign playbook by trying to connect with as many New Hampshire residents as possible. The three-term U.S. senator plans to hold more than 100 town hall meetings in the state, and as part of 12-day swing through New Hamphire will spend much of Wednesday in Conway. A town hall meeting is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. at...

Earns 51% of voter approval in Republican Liberty Caucus Straw Poll -- just a few points behind Rand Paul, among Libertarians. HOUSTON, TEXAS - Presidential candidate Ted Cruz continues to shore up his strong support among libertarian voters, earning 51 percent support from voters participating in the straw poll held at the Republican Liberty Caucus in Nashua, NH over the weekend. Cruz received 399 votes (51%), just a few points behind Rand Paul's 445 votes (57%). “We are very encouraged by the growing support we are seeing among liberty voters in the early states and across the country,” Cruz said....

NASHUA, N.H. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) came to a convention of libertarian-leaning Republicans and talked about shrinking government, slashing regulations, fighting against the bulk collection of phone data and his great affinity for a rival in the presidential race. “I love Rand Paul,” Cruz said. Paul, Kentucky’s junior U.S. senator and scion of one of America’s most famous libertarian families, was fully expected to lock down the support of libertarian voters in the presidential election. But as Paul’s poll numbers have sagged nationally — and in such libertarian-minded places as New Hampshire — Cruz is trying to pick off...

Exeter, New Hampshire (CNN)—Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Friday that a New Hampshire audience member would "get over" cuts to Social Security payments as a result of his reform plan -- and the left is already pouncing on the comment. The Republican presidential candidate was asked about entitlement reform during NH1's "Fiscal Fridays" series in Concord, New Hampshire, on Friday, and he said it was something that would have to get done. "We can't balance a budget without entitlement reform. What are we, kidding?" Kasich said when asked about his opponents who say they won't touch entitlements. Kasich said he...

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign on Wednesday announced that it has named a chairman in all 171 counties that comprise the first four early states – 99 Iowa counties, 10 New Hampshire counties, 46 South Carolina counties, and 16 Nevada counties. “The only way we will turn our country around is through a grassroots uprising of the American people, and I’m grateful for the many courageous conservatives in the early states who have stepped forward to lead that grassroots movement,” Cruz said. “I’ve always known we would have a great organization, but having a leader the 171 counties that...

Wednesday night I wasn’t surprised as candidate Donald Trump, in keeping within his narcissistic, xenophobic character, told an overflow crowd at Keene High School that if he became president he would send all Syrian refugees who had been given sanctuary in the United States, home: “I’m putting (refugees) on notice that are coming here from Syria as part of this mass migration that if I win, they’re going back,” he said. However, what both surprised and disappointed me was the boisterous affirmative response to Trump — cheers and hurrahs from the crowd, presumably mostly New Hampshirites, in support of Trump’s...