Shadegg Stumps for McCain in New Hampshire

Congressman John Shadegg, R-Ariz., was among those in New Hampshire Tuesday, doing some last-minute campaigning for Arizona Senator and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.

Shadegg said McCain was running strong among the GOP faithful in New Hampshire's primary.

``I don't think he'll have a big 20-point win tonight," Shadegg said. ``He might have a narrow four or five or three-point win or he might even lose here, but I think he is becoming the candidate of choice among establishment Republicans."

He said McCain was attracting more party-line Republicans than he did in 2000 when he won the New Hampshire primary.

Shadegg said McCain had a record day of online fund-raising, and he thought McCain's apparent top challenger in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney, was feeling the heat.

``Romney was saying Monday he isn't very well known here in New Hampshire," Shadegg said. ``I think that is just laughable. He is the governor of a neighboring state, and these states are about the size of our counties."

Shadegg also observed that Democrat Barack Obama appeared to be attracting a lot of the independent voters that McCain claimed in 2000.

McCain, meanwhile, was busy campaigning, saying that, ``We know how important New Hampshire is to our campaign, there's no sugar-coating that. It's straight talk, it's absolutely important."

The senator was wearing the same green sweater he wore when he won New Hampshire by 18 points eight years ago and he admitted to carrying a few lucky charms, including a coin he found on a Portsmouth street the day of his last campaign stop in 2000.

``Any superstition you can imagine, I indulge in," he said. ``Whatever I can do that's superstitious, I'll do it."