The Rocket Minus the SteroidsIn the span of a few short weeks, Senator John McCain has defied the experts and gone from nowhere to
front-runner status, "The Rocket" as Time puts it:
Poll: New Hampshire win rockets McCain to front-runner status
John McCain's victory in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary appears to be paying off.
The senator from Arizona is the front-runner in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the first national poll taken after the New Hampshire primary.
The campaign quickly issued a statement denying that Senator McCain's campaign was on steroids.
As I mentioned in an email to some friends, the national poll is a lagging indicator; up until today it showed Mike Huckabee in the lead, based on his Iowa win. And yet I don't think any responsible political analyst was projecting a Mike Huckabee nomination, because we all knew that Huckabee's win in New Hampshire really benefited nobody more than John McCain, and indeed, his shares in the electronic markets jumped the most after Iowa, not those of Huckabee. And they were already the highest priced shares on the Republican side, as I reported with some glee at the time.
But McCain's win in New Hampshire, and his steadily improving position have resulted in a sudden demand for McCain Preferred over the last month:
Compare that to Mitt Romney's performance since the New Year:
Ouch. The former CEO of Bain Capital would dump that stock like a hot potato!
And skiers could probably navigate down Giuliani's slope:
A slight bump from Iowa, and then a steady decline again. This isn't over by any means; the
Kos Kidz are talking about voting for Mitt Romney.
Labels: 2008 Candidates, John McCain