The speech will help Romney. He built up the stakes in the media and then delivered a performance the media and party insiders will praise. The Mormon issue is openly confronted, and more importantly Romney gave a performance that was the most human so far in his campaign. That was badly needed. The speech will give Romney a shot in the arm, as the race moves toward becoming a close three-way contest; Romney, Huckabee, and a slowly rising McCain in New Hampshire, who seems to do better as Rudy fades. Thompson is stalled. Ultimately, though, the race is very unstable and nearly anything can happen.
Meanwhile in New Hampshire the clouds darken for Hillary. First it was Iowa, where she started sinking in polls, only to see Obama pull ahead. Now a new Washington Post poll has Obama closing to just outside the margin of error in New Hampshire. Look for movement in South Carolina next. Hillary is in a real pickle; how does she confront Obama without trapping herself in the unbecoming attack style of the "old politics" Obama is skillfully running against? It must be a very difficult time inside Das Hillary Apparat. Clearly what they are doing now is not working. Look for a big spin push from the Clinton staff to the elite political media about some new HRC master plan to break a game-changing move in the race. Negative TV ads against Obama are probably coming too. Another bad week and a donor and elite supporter riot will break out as the many who have bet their political futures on the "unbeatable" Hillary Clinton start to panic.
