Tipsheet

Spin Room Talk...And, Fred Has No Spinner?

First off, I talked to spinners for everyone but Fred and Huckabee. Neither of them seemed to have a spinner in the room, which seems more forgivable for Huckabee riding a surge than Fred who needs to boost his image. Sure, neither of them is running hard in New Hampshire, but no spinner in the spin room? Seriously? I even asked the guys checking IDs at the door if they'd seen anyone come in for Fred. Nope, and his place-marking signs sat against the wall unused. Very odd.

McCain's spinner, whose name escapes me at the moment:


On tone:

"He only engaged in the immigration issue, where Romney has been dishonest and where his ads have, frankly, hurt us a little bit...other than that, we stayed above the fray."

On the "candidate of change" crack:

"He's had that in his head for a while... As soon as the word 'change' came out of his mouth, I knew he was gonna say that."

"Romney says he's never called McCain's immigration stance 'amnesty.' Well, he's got an ad out right now calling it amnesty...and a guy handing out a flyer calling it amnesty...a little bit slippery..."

On whether Indies will break for Obama:

"About a third of Independents in New Hampshire lean Republican and we're doing very well with them...we'll win even if fewer Independents are for us than before."

Rudy's guy, who is Mayor of Manchester:

"Mitt and Hillary are talking about 50-state strategy now..We talked about that a year ago."

"They've changed their strategy because a one-two punch isn't going to win you a nomination"

"Rudy still in lead in many primary states, he'll be going on to other states where he has campaigned, after New Hampshire."

Where does he need to finish?

"If he finishes...what he needs to do is finish strong."

"He's been doing door-to-door, retail politics for a day or two, and those voters who meet him face-to-face know he's the same guy they see on TV and they like him."

"I'm gonna be happy w a very strong finish in New Hampshire."

We have more guys on video from the spin room, and I'm uploading pics, but my wireless if very slow, so it may be a while.