Republican John McCain is back in New Hampshire.
The trip is the Arizona senator's first since a recent visit to Iraq, and comes on the heels of a campaign shake-up that have some wondering if the man who won the 2000 New Hampshire Primary will still be in the race by primary day 2008.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers has more.
John McCain started his day by doing something no candidate would want to do: speak on statewide radio about the failings of his own campaign:
"We spent too much money, we didn't do a lot of things we should have done, and those are my responsibilities. And I'm very sad at the departure of a couple of my very dearest friends."
Among those friends were McCain's campaign manager, some top fundraiser, and his most longstanding political advisor.
Add to that that McCain's campaign has close to zero money, and the baggage that comes from championing both the Iraq war and an immigration policy deeply unpopular within his own party, and you get a sense of what his campaign faces.
But according to McCain national political director Mike Dennehy, speculation about McCain's demise is premature:
"Voters need to be reminded of who he is. They don't really remember his story, or his life background, so there's a lot of time left, and there's still a lot to learn about John McCain, so he can be reconnected with voters."
McCain began that reconnection process moments later, with a speech to the Concord Chamber of Commerce, that called on the nation to neither ignore nor fear what he described as the national security challenge of our time - radical Islamic extremism:
"Defeatism will not buy peace in our time. It will only lead to more bloodshed and more American casualties in the future. If we choose to lose in Iraq, our enemies will hit us harder in Afghanistan, helping to erode our political will and encourage calls in Western capitals for withdrawal and accommodation with our enemy there as well."
Afterwards, many in the crowd gave McCain's speech high marks for principle and purpose, even if they didn't entirely agree with its bottom line:
"You know, I don't like being in Iraq..."
Lloyd Avedon is a professional bridge player who's volunteered in both of McCain's presidential runs.
"But I think you have to be able to separate the forest from the trees. He's got competence, he's got integrity, he's got experience and he's got compassion. We need that."
Avedon adds, though, that he'll be watching to see if McCain's stance on Iraq will change when top American commander, General David Petraeus, presents his findings on the status of the war this fall.
In the meantime, McCain's visit to New Hampshire continues with a stop in Claremont later today.
For NHPR News, I'm Josh Rogers.
