In GOP's Last Man Standing, Robert Novak suggests that McCain is on track to win the party nomination. Additionally he points out that Huckabee's Republicanism is even less orthodox than McCain's and seems unviable beyond Iowa.
While McCain has collected the endorsement of the conservative Manchester Union Leader, he has also been the favorite of liberals everywhere from the Boston Globe, Concord Monitor, Des Moines Register, to Senate colleague Joe Lieberman. It should be noted that Romney has collected endorsements from the grassroots conservative movement including National Review, American Conservative Union, Club for Growth, and Judge Robert Bork.
In an interesting move, the Union Leader editorial board has decided that endorsing McCain was not enough. They are now on offense against Romney attacking him on everything from his money to his hair. They mostly challenge his authenticity, which seems to be Romney's biggest hurdle with swing voters who will drift from conservative philosophy to support a personality that they trust, even if it is a moderate like McCain or Huckabee. I also contend, that if one is casting their primary vote with November in mind, McCain is not a bad choice. While he should be a slam dunk over any of the Dems, America likes a fresh face and Obama would be troublesome. McCain would be painted as an old, grouchy war monger against someone like Obama (think Clinton v Dole).
McCain's surge in Iowa has brought Huckabee back to the pack. Romney is consistently above 25%. Romney support in Iowa is deep and wide. Huckabee had pulled away to 35% when McCain was in the single digits. McCain is now in the doubles, and Huck's lead has been cut to within the margin of error.
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