Looks Like the Mac Really Is Back

SALEM, N.H., Jan. 6, 2008— -- Here it was, the proverbial picture worth a thousand words: Sen. John McCain standing before an overflow crowd of several hundred in the Peterborough, N.H., Town Hall.

He had just finished his introductory remarks -- standard lines he's uttered hundreds of times, but this time with a verve and an energy that bespoke his rising political fortunes in this state and beyond.

A dozen television cameras rolled. A week ago, there would have been maybe two. The audience was applauding wildly and McCain, in his coat and tie and V-neck sweater, was just standing there basking in it. On his face was a happy smile.

He looked around. He gave a thumbs up to someone. To someone else, he offered a small wave of his hand.

These are suddenly very good times for John McCain.

A WMUR poll taken over the weekend put him six percentage points up on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in New Hampshire. He is drawing large, enthusiastic crowds at almost every campaign stop.

And that was before the ABC News/Facebook debate where Romney appeared to be rattled by a barrage of attacks from McCain and his other opponents.

That was before the storyline of Sunday's coverage of the Republicans became Romney's denial in the debate that he was running television ads saying McCain favored "amnesty" for illegal immigrants when, in fact, he has two such ads.

McCain had been cautious about saying how he will do in the New Hampshire primary, but he has tossed more and more of that caution aside in recent days. Talking to reporters after the event in Peterborough, he allowed that "maybe we've caught some lightening in a bottle ... Maybe a sparkle."

By Sunday, he'd become even bolder.

"Frankly," he said in Salem, N.H., "we're winning this campaign."

That's probably because the McCain camp thinks he got the better of Romney in the debate Saturday.

For days, McCain aides had been viewing the debate as a chance to retaliate against Romney for the ads attacking McCain on immigration, an issue on which he is considered vulnerable. McCain had considered launching his own ads in response, but decided to hold fire.

His camp was concerned he would get dragged into a mud-slinging air war that could tarnish him as much as help. His team figured the debate and a candidate forum on Sunday would drive the news cycle anyway right up until primary day on Tuesday.

So, instead, he decided he would respond during the debate if given an opening. That opening came when he was asked if he still supported the legislation that he sponsored earlier this year that would have created a path for most of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens. The McCain-Kennedy bill died in Congress.

McCain replied, "Sure, but..." and then gave his now standard line about how he would secure the borders first, and then deal with those illegal immigrants now in the country.

Romney pounced. "I disagree fundamentally that the 12 million people who come here illegally should be allowed to stay here permanently," he said. "I think that is a form of amnesty and that's not appropriate."

McCain said his plan did not provide for "amnesty."

"You can spend your whole fortune on attack ads and it still won't be true," he said.

During the tense exchange that followed, Romney said, "I don't describe your plan as amnesty in my ad. I don't call it amnesty."

McCain missed the opportunity then to point out that that's exactly what Romney's ads were saying, albeit coming out of the mouths of what Romney's campaign said were New Hampshire citizens. But McCain's spinners in the post-debate spin room were all over it. One of his closest advisors, Mark Salter, usually a pretty unflappable guy, was red-faced with outrage.

On Sunday, ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked Romney on "This Week" about the apparent contradiction. Romney said he had made a mistake and had not been aware of the ads.

As Romney came under fire for his misstep, what was lost was that the debate hadn't been a particularly stellar performance by McCain. Some commentators said he came across as nasty and petty. Even aside from tone, his positions were often not crisply delivered.

But all of that was largely obscured by Romney's gaffe.

McCain's final push to primary day will include an effort to convince independent voters, who McCain says make up their minds just before Election Day, to come over to his side and not that of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois.

"I'm kind of of pleased that the independents have narrowed it down to a choice of two," McCain said gamely on Sunday.

His campaign is saying he is roughly tied with Romney among Republican voters. That may be true. Or it may be a strategy to persuade independents that their vote can make the difference between a victory for McCain, who's popular with unaffiliated voters here, or a victory for Romney.

On Monday, McCain hits the road again on his campaign bus, the Straight Talk Express. His campaign is calling it The Mac Is Back tour.

The slogan is derived from McCain's reply to a reporter who asked last Friday if he is now the Comeback Kid, as Bill Clinton dubbed himself in New Hampshire in 1992.

"I hate that phrase because it was used by somebody else sometime ago," McCain said with a grin. "How about: 'The Mac is back'? How about that?"

On Tuesday, we'll find out if the Mac really is back.