McCain's Stratospheric Bounce from New Hampshire

By Rick Moran

John McCain has parlayed his big win in New Hampshire into a double digit lead in the Republican race for president.

The senator from Arizona is the front-runner in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the first national poll taken after the New Hampshire primary.

McCain has the support of 34 percent of registered Republicans in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey out Friday. That's a 21-point jump from the last CNN/Opinion Research poll, taken in December, well before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary earlier this month.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa Republican caucuses, is in second place in the new survey, with 21 percent of those registered Republicans polled supporting him for the GOP nomination. Rudy Giuliani follows with 18 percent, a drop of six points from the December poll, when the former New York City mayor was the front-runner.

"Only McCain gained support among Republicans nationally. McCain's now the clear Republican front-runner," said Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst.

The spectacular rise of McCain is partly fueled by the fact that the other front runners in the race appear to be weakening. Mike Huckabee received no bounce whatsoever out of Iowa as he polled only 12% in New Hampshire. Both Mitt Romney and Rudy Giulliani have been sinking in the polls for weeks.

McCain has also surged ahead in Florida and is closing in on Romney in Michigan. If McCain can manage to win in Michigan next Tuesday, the questions regarding his inevitability will begin in earnest and Republicans could coalesce behind the Arizona senator if only to avoid a bruising fight beyond the February 5 Super Tuesday primaries.