John McCain and Barack Obama won tonight’s debates here in New Hampshire not because of what they did but because of what others did for them. The mass Republican assault on Mitt Romney, which McCain joined in, ensured that McCain’s chief rival in the state left the debate bloodied and bruised.
At this point, the stars seem to be aligning for McCain in New Hampshire. If McCain does win here, the other candidates might regret doing him such a favour tonight as the momentum he gains might carry him all the way to the nomination—but you get the impression that the other candidates wouldn’t mind that too much.
Logic had little to do with the collective beating administered to Romney, who is no longer the front runner, tonight. In the spin room, surrogates for the other Republican candidates admitted that they all share a mutual dislike of the former Massachusetts governor.
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