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Rolling in N.H., McCain makes late push in Iowa |
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By Sam Youngman
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Posted: 12/27/07 06:40 PM [ET] |
DES MOINES – Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), having risen from a political grave since mid-summer, moved his resurrection tour to Iowa Thursday.
McCain’s poll numbers have steadily climbed in New Hampshire, where he has devoted most of his time, and some surveys show him moving into a statistical tie with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney there.
With that momentum in tow, McCain made a foray into the first-in-the-nation caucus state Thursday just as the world was reeling with the news of the assassination of Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
In an interview with The Hill, McCain’s Iowa chairman Dave Roederer said the senator knows that doing well in Iowa – where his pro-immigration stance and opposition to ethanol subsidies has cost him in the past – is an “uphill battle.”
But Roederer, who recalls local reporters calling this summer to ask if the campaign offices were still open, said he has no idea where the senator might end up on the tally board caucus night.
“I really don’t know what to think,” Roederer said. “Winning it would probably be a stretch. I just don’t know. It’s just that fluid.
The combination of the polls’ fluidity, low expectations, and an endorsement from The Des Moines Register has given the campaign some reason to believe that a stronger than expected finish could be the boost McCain needs going into New Hampshire.
Roederer said throughout the day Thursday, the events drew larger than crowds than the campaign anticipated, and many of those were full of undecided voters.
He added the campaign expects the number of undecideds to grow as caucus night nears and voters get antsy about the candidate they have been supporting.
“This has been one of the weirdest election cycles I’ve ever seen,” Roederer said.
He added that Bhutto’s assassination is likely to push foreign affairs back to the forefront of voters’ minds, which could be an asset to McCain.
Coinciding with the Iowa swing, the campaign announced McCain’s “Iowans of Faith Coalition” leaders, many of whom were supporters of Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) until he dropped out of the race.
McCain is set to hold one more event in Iowa Friday morning before returning to his “Straight Talk Express” in New Hampshire, where he is scheduled to campaign through at least Jan. 2.
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