Projo Politics Blog

House Minority Leader Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich, will be busy with tomorrow’s opening of the 2008 General Assembly session, but his heart and mind will be elsewhere, nervously watching the polls in Iowa in advance of the Thursday GOP caucuses.

Watson is a huge fan and ally of Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential aspirant who was left for dead six months ago but has made a remarkable comeback to edge within striking distance of winning New Hampshire’s lead-off Jan. 8 primary.

“I’m very excited by the progress he has made, especially in New Hampshire,” Watson told Political Scene last week. “It is a great tribute to John McCain.”

McCain’s turnaround has been fueled by a strong retail campaign and his personal grit and charisma. The Arizona Republican is adept at the meet-and-greet campaigns that are effective in New Hampshire, where voters expect presidential candidates to campaign as if they were running for state rep or mayor.

This means candidates must plead for votes at ethnic clubs, high school gymnasiums, town halls and in living rooms and angle for local media attention. McCain is one of the best at this and is especially attentive to media attention, often inviting reporters to ride on his bus in the kind of rolling press conferences he made famous in his 2000 run for the White House with his “Straight Talk Express” bus tours.

McCain won the 2000 New Hampshire primary, besting then Texas-Gov. George W. Bush by 19 percentage points.

“He still has a reservoir of support in New Hampshire and he is working very hard there,” said Watson.

Watson plans to head to New Hampshire on Friday to lend a hand on the campaign and spend Tuesday night at what the newly optimistic McCain contingent hopes will be a victory party.

smackay@projo.com

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