Agree with you re McCain in New Hampshire, Warbler..
Situation in Pakistan helping to emphasize his sterling foreign policy credentials.. newspaper endorsements should not be underestimated in NH either, another factor that McCain has to his advantage..
Have a feeling that the wind may be out of Romney's sails by the time the travelling circus swings in to New Hampshire, and McCain may be just the man to capitalize.. not willing to get involved at 6/5 though mind..
This is all music to the ears of Rudy of course, who'll be doing everything he can with his team to get Huckabee a victory in Iowa..
On the Democratic side, it's even more fluid.. I will admit that I wrote of Edwards too quickly, though he can afford no worse than a close second in Iowa.. in his favour, however, is the fact that he has probably the most committed base in Iowa (a base which has been loyal to him since '04), which could prove crucial as much will hinge on who actually shows up on the night.. Hillary and Barack also relying heavily on voters who probably may not be totally committed caucas goers (Hillary with her old bettys and Barrack relying heavily on the youth vote..
Another potentially critical aspect of the Democratic caucus is that in order to be considered "viable", a candidate must have at least 14% of the individual precinct vote. In the event that the candidate does not, his/her supporters are given the opportunity to switch to a viable candidate (wtf is that, seriously) or decide to remain undecided.. could prove critical with the likes of Richardson/Dodd/Kucinich etc.
