Fox News All Stars

The candidacy of John McCain was put to the panel for discussion, and his apparent rise or surge in some polls. The clearest representation of this is in New Hampshire where polls have him trailing Mitt Romney in second place. Fred Barnes has noticed the response to McCain in recent weeks as well. "I went out with him last week, and he's getting larger crowds, he's getting enormous interest." So why the new found interest in McCain? Barnes goes on to explain the enormous character of McCain as a defining feature, one that will attract those who might have written him off months ago. The panel's focus on John McCain centered on his Christmas ad that pointed to him experience as a POW, and its religious overtones. Part of the reawakening to McCain might be his chances against the Democratic candidate in a head to head match up. Bret Baier mentioned a new poll that put McCain up five points against Hillary Clinton. Republicans want a win in '08 and if John McCain is the candidate to defeat the Democrats, especially Hillary, Republicans might warm up to the Arizona Senator. But as Charles Krauthammer points out the significance of New Hampshire for John McCain, the hope is that it launches him forward to the other contests. The all stars also touched on Huckabee's comments about the Bush foreign policy being one of bunker mentality. Condolezza Rice flatly denied such claims in a recent press conference. Fred Barnes regarded Huckabee's claims as false citing the United State's attempts at multilateral meetings with North Korea in an attempt to get them to give up their nuclear weapons. He also mentioned the efforts in dealing with Iran. Mort Kondracke felt that Romney in Iowa, and McCain in New Hampshire, might gain from voter apprehension aimed at Huckabee. Recent comments by Huckabee have caused some to question his foreign policy strategy or philosophy. Competing views of our entry into Iraq, Kondracke wondering if world opinion and Middle East stability would be the current condition, and Krauthammer and Barnes not buying that notion with Krauthammer calling Kondracke's assumptions, "pie in the sky."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/panel_on_huckabeerice_axis_of.html
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