McCain proves he’s the real Comeback Kid

NEW HAMPSHIRE was John McCain’s last stand, his best opportunity to revive a presidential campaign that was near death last summer.

Victory was the consummate comeback for a comeback specialist, a survivor who weathered more than five years in a Vietnam POW camp, a wrenching congressional scandal and three bouts with aggressive skin cancer.

For rival Mitt Romney, McCain’s resurgence was a searing loss, another second-place finish for a campaign that had anticipated back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire and had spent tens of millions of dollars more than other Republicans.

The two Republicans collided yesterday in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary, rivals who were in urgent need of a triumph in the campaign for the White House.

McCain, in particular, appealed for their support in the run-up to the primary. He battled Romney, and to a lesser extent Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who won last week’s Iowa caucuses.

“It has all the earmarks of a landslide with the Dixville Notch vote,” an upbeat McCain had quipped as his campaign bus headed to a polling place in Nashua.

The crowd of supporters there was so big, that voters complained and a poll worker pleaded with McCain to leave. Seconds later, the bus pulled away.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, Texas Republican Ron Paul and California Republican Duncan Hunter completed the Republican field.

Romney spent more than his rivals combined on television for the New Hampshire primary.

After losing Iowa he could ill afford another defeat after basing his campaign strategy on victories in one or both states. Reflecting the stakes, he clashed in weekend debates with Huckabee over the Iraq war and with McCain over immigration as he tried to right his campaign.

Yesterday, Romney put a positive face forward. “The Republicans will vote for me,” he said. “The independents will get behind me.”

McCain, too, was in need of a victory. Once the perceived front-runner, he suffered through a near-death political experience last year when his fundraising and support collapsed.

Meanwhile even a cup of coffee couldn’t sway one stubborn independent voter — though Republican Mike Huckabee gave it his all yesterday.

Outside the Brookside Congregational Church in Manchester, Huckabee waded into the crowd to greet voters outside the polling place. He ran into Joe Legay, 70, and asked him what candidate was getting Legay’s vote.

“I’m independent,” Legay said, ducking the question.

“So I have one more chance, what can I do? Can I pour you coffee?” Huckabee asked, then poured him a cup of coffee from a doughnut shop coffee container. “Where else than in New Hampshire does a candidate come out and personally pour coffee?”

Then he asked Legay again how he would vote.

“I’m independent so I have to be quiet,” Legay said — apparently not wanting to hurt Huckabee’s feelings, because as Huckabee moved on, Legay told a reporter he was voting for Democrat Barack Obama.

PROFILE: McCAIN

Full Name: John McCain

Party: Republican

Cash on Hand: $3,488,630

Age: 71

Birthplace: Panama Canal Zone, Panama

Spouse: Cindy Hensley

Children: Doug Shepp, Andy Shepp, Meghan McCain, John Sidney IV McCain, James McCain, Bridget McCain

Religion: Episcopal

Current Job: US senator from Arizona

Past Offices: 1986-Present: US senator , Arizona; 1982-1986: US representative, Arizona

Previous Experience: 1977-1981: Navy Senate Liaison Office; 1977: Captain, Navy Pilot; 1967-1973: Prisoner of War, Hanoi, Vietnam; 1958: Commander, US Navy

Education: US Naval Academy: 1958; National War College: 1974

Books: “Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir”

Quote: “The American people are disappointed and frustrated with the Iraq war, but they want us to succeed if there’s any way to do that.”

Website: johnmccain.com/