An emboldened John McCain declared ``I will win,'' and Republican rival Mitt Romney scrambled to prevent a second big race to slip away in the frenzied final hours before the New Hampshire primary. Said Romney on Sunday: ``I'm planning on winning in New Hampshire.'' But he added, ``It may not happen,'' reflecting new polls.
Mike Huckabee, who took first place in the Iowa caucuses but trails in the nation's first primary, downplayed his own prospects but said: ``We're going to do better than expected.''
Wide open and intense, the race for the Republican nomination has gotten ever tighter. A pair of fresh polls showed McCain, the Arizona senator, slightly ahead of Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, two days before New Hampshire votes. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, staking his hopes on later states, is trying to hold off Huckabee for third.