New Hampshire: John McCain's Last Stand



On Meet The Press' 60th Anniversary show political superheavyweight Chuck Todd expressed his skepticism about Senator John McCain's last stand approach in New Hampshire. Pulling out of Iowa -- where McCain might not inconceiveably finish in the top 3 -- was a mistake, according to Todd. As a result, McCain is putting everything into New Hampshire, where he has histrically had a lot of love (In 2000 he beat the frontrunner then-Governor George Bush), but may just be beaten back.

But McCain's NH gamble depends almost entirely upon the failure of Senator Barack Obama in Iowa. New Hampshire, which actually has more independents than Republicans or Democrats, is an odd fig of a state. In the primary, anyone can vote in any which primary once. Since an Obama win -- or close second -- in Iowa would clearly attract many Independents into the Democrat primary (and away from McCain in the republican primary), McCain almost needs Hillary Clinton to clean house in Iowa. Look for McCain to mention Hillary at every turn in the last 45 days to the Iowa caucus (Hillary-Hillary-Hillary).

From TheHill:

"Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) berated Democrats for espousing what he believes is a defeatist mindset on the war in Iraq this weekend as he swung through this pivotal battleground for the nomination.

"'The progress in Iraq is real and it’s a shame some media outlets haven’t recognized that,' McCain said as he greeted voters at the Littleton Diner in Littleton, N.H. Sunday. 'Democrats want to surrender; they want to set a date for withdraw.'''