supporters angry that their guy hadn t been included ranted

supporters angry that their guy hadn t been included ranted and raved outside. I m not sure this was a representative group of Republicans. They seemed pretty conservative. And they Just. Loved. Romney. Most of those who came in undecided had switched to Mitt by the end of the show. They just adored his position on illegal immigration (their dials plummeted when McCain said we had to be humane. ) They loved his explanation of why he had switched his position on abortion. They loved it when he nailed Huckabee as a tax raiser in fact, Huckabee s failure to acknowledge that he was a net raiser of taxes ended his credibility with the audience (which, since this is New Hampshire, had been wary car diagnostic scanner of his flagrant religiosity airbag reset from the start).
Meanwhile, McCain was nowhere. His answers lacked zing. He seemed tired. He was unable to make a vigorous case for himself as a leader even his references back to his days in the military didn t cut it with this Republican audience. McCain won here in 2000 because independent voters found him far more compelling than the independent alternative on the Democratic side, Bill Bradley. This time, he s competing with Barack Obama for independents in a state decidedly more blue than it was in 2000 He may still have enough heft to win this thing. But I wouldn t be surprised to see the race tighten or swing toward Romney over the next few days.
Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. His weekly TIME column, "In the Arena," covers national and international affairs.




Rubio Offers a sensible Speech, But Can He Go Off

Marco Rubio s major international policy speech on Wednesday involved hundreds of meta-analysis about his vice presidential potential clients and political positioning. But it did prove to become a comparatively uncovered and substantive speech, at least with the admittedly not-high expectations of a younger U.S. Senator. Rubio outlined a form of internationalist-hawk eyesight, spurning both the isolationist and