McCain Goes "All In" For New Hampshire

As the Washington Post reported this weekend, Sen. John McCain is pulling out all the stops in New Hampshire in the hope of jump-starting his campaign back into contention. It could work.

Recently, we've been reviewing the various Republicans' strategies for getting the nomination, and we'll keep coming back to that theme. McCain's New Hampshire strategy is sound. True, it might not work, but it's still the best possible strategy for the Straight Talker.

In 2000, McCain surprised W in New Hampshire and almost wrested the nomination away. New Hampshire is a good state for Big John because independents can vote in the primary, and they tend to be much more pragmatic and much less dogmatic than the pure Republicans who would dominate in a caucus format.

So far, the polls also show McCain's gamble--like a player in a Texas hold-'em poker tournament down to his last hand, McCain is going "all in" in New Hampshire--to be paying off. In the most recent two surveys, McCain either tied, or beat, Giuliani for second place. If, on primary day, McCain could close the gap with Romney and put a bit of space between himself and Rudy, it would be enough to propel him through to the next round.

Meanwhile, the polls continue to be dismal for Thompson and dangerous for Giuliani. Big Fred polls LAST--behind even Ron Paul--in New Hampshire, and a distant fourth in Iowa, and he's not showing any strength ins SC, or anywhere else for that matter. As for the Rudester, he's polling third in both Iowa and NH. If Huckabee finishes second in Iowa, and McCain finishes second in NH--giving both those campaigns big boosts--while Thompson folds, Giuliani could see voters in the next tier of states begin to peel away from him on droves.

We think Rudy G. MUST get at least a second in one of those first two states, otherwise his big state strategy will collapse faster than a house of cards.