McCain's Campaign Not Generating Much Enthusiasm

Although some recent polls in New Hampshire showed John McCain still relatively strong, other indicators are not looking good. Even in his home state his support is slipping:

For the first time, favorite son Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) "no longer has a double digit lead as the top choice for President among Arizona Republicans," according to a new Rocky Mountain Poll.

Rudy Guiliani is now within nine points of Senator McCain and has "made major gains in just the past two months. As of this week, McCain leads Guiliani by only 34 to 25 percent, but more important is the dynamic surge in Guiliani’s appeal rising to 25 percent from only 13 percent in January while McCain sank from 40 percent to only 34 percent."

"The surge in support for Guiliani seems to be fueled by retired Republicans and Republicans most likely to vote in a primary election. Among retirees, Guiliani leads McCain by 36 to 21 percent and among likely voters who call themselves Republicans, Guiliani leads McCain by a 32 to 21 percent margin."

Things are not going as well as planned on the fundraising side either:

GRAFTON CO., NH -- Sen. John McCain said his presidential campaign would not meet its fundraising goals this quarter, and his campaign advisers acknowledged that ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney may wind up raising more.

"We're going to pay a price for it because we got a late start," McCain told reporters in New Hampshire. "We're not going to meet the goals we had." He later said he did not know whether Romney would outpace him, but his advisers did not downplay that possibility. They also did not rule out finishing first.

McCain contends that his exploratory committee's opening in December and the rush of the busy holiday season did not allow his campaign to begin fundraising in earnest until January. But once that month began, owing in part to a busy Senate schedule, McCain attended only two fundraisers and only two in February. There are twenty scheduled for all of this month, and another twenty in April.

"These are moments, none of which at the end of the day impact winning the nomination," said John Weaver, McCain's chief strategist. "We're on track to do that. Every campaign would trade places with us. We wouldn't trade places with anyone else."

Really? I'll bet he'd trade places with Rudy Giuliani right about now. If Fred Thomson comes in the race my guess is that all three of the GOP leaders will have things to worry about.