McCain's NJ backers stirred by polls in New Hampshire

The polls in New Hampshire show Sen. John McCain holding a slight lead over former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, who was banged up in Iowa on his way into the granite state’s primary tomorrow.

N.J. State Director Richard Mroz said McCain’s candor and experience, particularly on foreign policy, distinguish him from Romney. Trying to turn that against him, Romney’s people have snickered about the craggy Arizona senator’s 70 plus years.

"How old was Ronald Reagan when he became president?" Mroz asked, referring to the 40th president, who was 69 when he beat incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Asked about Reagan’s second term performance and the age factor, Mroz said there’s no conclusive evidence to suggest that the president was not at his peak and added, "People will debate whether it was personal style or the onset of Alzheimer’s."

The more immediate matter is McCain’s performance in New Hampshire.

"We have people from New Jersey who have departed and are there," said Mroz. "We also have people who are prepared to South Carolina and even Michigan in time for those primaries."

Among those New Jersey operatives stumping across New Hampshire for McCain are Lewis Eisenberg and Larry Bathgate, who come out of the campaign's fund-raising arm.

In New Jersey, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani still leads McCain 38 - 12 percent, with 8 percent for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 7 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and 4 percent for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, according to a pre primary, Dec. 13th Quinnipiac University poll. That compares to a 48 - 12 percent Giuliani lead over McCain October 17.

"We’re tremendously enthusiastic, and Sen. McCain has been saying for weeks that we’re going to flat out win New Hampshire," said Mroz.

In the following interview done on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, longtime McCain supporter Sen-elect Bill Baroni discusses his candidate's surge going into the early primary states.