• Seacoast Republicans back Sen. McCain

    'Straight talk' brings win
  • New Hampshire and the Seacoast loves Arizona Sen. John McCain but the question remains why so much.
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    Dubbed the "comeback kid" — err, OK so he's not a kid — McCain did what he did in 2000 and won the first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday.
    McCain was the top Republican vote-getter in Exeter, Stratham, North Hampton, Seabrook and tied with Romney in Hampton.
    "Straight talk is what carried the day," said John Lyons, a Portsmouth lawyer and member of McCain's executive committee. "We don't deviate from our message and we don't flip flop. Integrity trumps everything else."
    It's hard to believe McCain's campaign was in financial ruin and left for dead in August with television pundits writing his political obituary. Issues such as immigration and his stance on the war in Iraq left potential voters with a sour taste.
    But when the troop surge in the war began to work and he returned to his "Straight Talk" roots, voters declared that the "Mac was back."
    "I'm not a political expert but I think people were looking for a candidate that is direct," said Chris Nevins, chairman of the Hampton Republican Party. "Looking at other candidates on both sides, you always don't get direct answers. McCain is just the opposite. He couldn't be more direct. He gives you the good news and the bad news."
    Lyons and Maureen Barrows, of Exeter, another member of McCain's state executive committee, both agreed it was McCain's "Straight Talk" that re-energized his campaign from its low point this past summer.
    "Straight talk is what this country needs," Lyons said.
    Lyons said McCain's positions on the war including his stance against the war plan of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his support of the troop surge in Iraq are two examples why he was the real candidate for change.
    "It's easy to talk about change," Lyons said. "But John McCain brought change."
    Jay Levy, McCain campaign chairman for the town of Stratham, said the senator's strength was his ability to be consistent. "I just think he held true to what his principles were," Levy said.
    Levy also cited how the nation's debate over illegal immigration affected the senator, but he stood by his beliefs.
    "His stance on immigration was not a popular position," Levy said. "But he heard the American public and he didn't flip flop and I think the American people appreciate that."
    Lenore Patton, chairwoman of the Rockingham Democrats, said she wasn't surprised by McCain's victory right in Romney's back yard.
    "People in New Hampshire really like McCain and it's hard not to like him," she said. "He comes across friendly and pleasant and he doesn't have the baggage that some candidates have."
    Gary Patton, chairman of the Hampton Town Democratic Committee, agreed, saying he attracts a lot of independent voters. "He presents himself as an independent straight talking person," he said. "That's what we like to hear in New Hampshire."
    Patton said unfortunately that's not the always the case with McCain citing that voters conveniently overlook how he aligned himself with President Bush after he was eliminated in the 2000 primary.
    "After being eliminated in a dirty campaign in South Carolina by the Bush team in 2000, he joined the very people who had done him in with the dirt. There was a long period of time when straight talking John McCain wasn't straight talking. He was double talking."
    State Rep. Lee Quandt, R-Exeter, said McCain is in a good position right now.
    "Romney is in it for the long haul but he's on life support," Quandt said. "I think he made some fatal mistakes going negative. He may have called them comparison ads but that is just another word for going negative."
    Quandt said unlike 2000, McCain has the chance to go all the way this time. "It's a different election cycle and he is not going up against Bush and the whole Republican establishment," Quandt said.
    Levy, Barrows and Lyons all felt the win in New Hampshire would propel McCain through the next round of state elections including the Jan. 15 primary in Michigan, the Jan. 19 caucus in Nevada and the Jan. 19 primary in South Carolina.
    The key, Levy said, was for the senator to "deliver the same message."
    "People generally talk about change here," he said. "I think you have to have experience to do that. You can't just bring in new blood to do that. I think the American people trust John McCain."