TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Huckabee's Upset Win In Iowa May Have Rejuvenated McCain

ADVERTISEMENT

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and CARL HULSE, The New York Times

Published: January 5, 2008

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Mike Huckabee's defeat of Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses jolted a Republican Party establishment already distressed about the state of its presidential field.

But out of the turmoil may rise yet another opportunity for Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whose candidacy all but collapsed last year.

If only by default, McCain is getting yet another look and appears to be in a strong position competing against a weakened Romney in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday.

McCain is the latest beneficiary of the continuing upheaval in the Republican field that has seen nearly all of the candidates rising at various points. Among them were McCain, former Sen. Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee and Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York.

Romney's defeat in Iowa only underlined concerns that many Republicans had expressed about him, while the success of Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, gave rise to new worries among the Republican establishment.

"Among the intelligentsia of the party, there is definitely a deep concern about Huckabee getting the nomination, because a lot of them think he can't win," said John Feehery, a former senior House Republican aide and party operative. "Part of it is self-interested panic, since they have their own horses in the race and none of them are riding Huckabee."

McCain, then - after a year in which his campaign nearly collapsed, the Iraq war and a controversial immigration bill eroded his popularity, and he was forced to continue his candidacy on a bare-bones budget - may be in the right place at the right time.

And McCain was campaigning Friday with spirit and gusto, attacking Romney before overflowing crowds at places like a VFW hall in Hudson, on issues that included Iraq, spending and his own record on security.

"I'm the one with the record," he said. "I'm the one that's been involved in every national security challenge for the last 20 years."

McCain said that while he was urging the dismissal of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Romney was "looking at his shoes."

McCain does face an obstacle that he has encountered at several other points: Balancing his effort to run as something of an insurgent with his effort to become the nominee of his party's establishment. His difficulties at striking the balance accounted for some of his troubles earlier in the campaign.

But New Hampshire is the state where McCain defeated George W. Bush by 18 points in 2000. Advisers to McCain and Romney said they think Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, was already weakened before Iowa and was even more vulnerable now. Evidence of that could be seen in a furious exchange of attack advertisements between the two men Friday.

Complicating Romney's life even more, Huckabee's campaign manager, Ed Rollins, suggested he was entering something of a temporary alliance of interest with McCain against Romney. He said Huckabee would be using the next several days to present what he said would be an unfavorable comparison of their records as governor.

"We're going to see if we can't take Romney out," Rollins said. "We like John. Nobody likes Romney."

Among the top-tier Republican candidates, Huckabee has the least number of endorsements from members of Congress and has stirred some nervousness among Washington insiders.

"When you have an unexpected candidate surging to the top in the last three weeks of a campaign, that is telling you that somehow the party doesn't know where it needs to go," said Pete DuPont, a former governor of Delaware and Republican presidential candidate. "He is outside the establishment. He has won an election without any of their help, and the establishment hates it when that happens."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT