McCain has been desperately trying to distance himself from his Fundraiser-in-Chief George W. Bush. He wants to be seen as a maverick, an independent, a reformer and someone who can carry the damaged Republican brand in a new direction. Well, this all sounds like a great strategy…right?

Thanks to the great work of bloggers and researchers who know how you use Google, McCain’s declaration of independence is slowly being debunked and his true colors are starting to shine through.

From the Huffington Post:

It has been observed that one of Sen. John McCain’s most foreboding obstacles in seeking the White House will likely be the lengthy paper trail that comes with a 25-year congressional career.

And so it is, perhaps, with the macro-theme of the general election: whether or not McCain is an extension of the George Bush presidency. The Senator has worked hard to dispel such a perception, pointing to various policy disagreements with the White House and lashing out against those who claim he would be Bush’s third term.

But McCain’s case is complicated by his own words from just three years ago. In a June 2005 appearance on Meet The Press, the Senator told moderator Tim Russert that, far from being at odds with the White House, he had “been totally in agreement and support of President Bush” on “the transcendent issues.”

Here is the transcript of his remarks. Video is here.

RUSSERT: The fact is you are different than George Bush.

SEN. McCAIN: No. No. I-the fact is that I’m different but the fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I’ve been totally in agreement and support of President Bush.

As now-Republican nominee John McCain heads back to New Hampshire, we turn back the clock to just 2 months ago, when Senator McCain’s triumph over his opponents was far from assured. From DoubleSpeak’s coverage of the New Hampshire Primary for the Huffington Post.

Originally posted on Off The Bus.

We ran into Bob Novak last week in New Hampshire and he made it very clear that he didn’t want to answer our questions. Check out the video.

If you enjoyed our video yesterday on Ron Paul and his New Hampshire campaign, give a listen to the extended version:

As always, you can check out our videos on YouTube, photos on Flickr, and our commentary and analysis on the Huffington Post.

In an interview with DoubleSpeak, Barack Obama’s Chief Strategist David Axelrod responded to Obama’s Iowa caucus victory. During this interview at the Senator’s first campaign event in the state of New Hampshire, Axelrod said that attacks on Obama are to be expected from his rivals over the next few days.

Rough transcript after the jump.

(more…)

Cross-posted at Huffington Post:

Since Iowa’s caucuses on Thursday there has been substantial focus on young voter turnout and its impact on election 2008. Now, the leading candidates have left the Hawkeye state and are taking their messages to New Hampshire voters, each hoping that their variation on the “change” theme will make them more appealing.

We packed our van and set-off to explore how young voters feel about change here in New Hampshire and which candidate will benefit most from this energy. There was no lack of excitement.

Photo by Cameron Hickey

We began the day with Barack Obama’s landing at the Portsmouth airport bright and early and ended as the sun set at New England College with Mike Huckabee.

Photo by Joshua Skaroff

We are preparing for tonight’s ABC/Facebook debate from Manchester, NH. We’ll be at the venue early and inside the spin room for post-debate reaction. Look for a photo wire throughout the evening as well as audio and video from the debate site.

Over eggs and toast this morning, team DoubleSpeak decided to dedicate our day to covering Ron Paul. Given the attention that is on Iowa today and the reality that this campaign will likely be flip-turned-upside-down overnight after the caucus, we ventured off to wade gingerly into Ron Paul’s New Hampshire revolution.

Whoever said the revolution will not be televised did not know DoubleSpeak and Off The Bus.

To say that we found anything near conventional would be completely false. The campaign looks nothing like operations we’ve been around in the past. A bearded ukulele player greeted us at the front door as scores of volunteers- many seemingly from out of state- prepared for one of their visibility “marches” back and forth to the New Hampshire statehouse which is a couple blocks away. The march was led by a gentlemen dressed in a revolutionary war uniform beating a drum as his flock chanted. But, this isn’t just a campaign…it’s a revolution. Revolutions need drummers…right?

As has been reported by The Huffington Post - Fox News is not allowing Rep. Paul to participate in the January 6th forum here in New Hampshire. We have found that this story has gotten significant legs here in the state and our read is that should Paul exceed expectations during tonight’s caucuses, pressure will mount for Fox to flip-flop and extend an invitation.

Tonight we are going to hop around Manchester, NH to various caucus watch parties. We wait in anticipation, along with all of you, to see how Iowa moves. We’ll be posting real-time pictures of our stops.

Tomorrow morning it’s up at 5:30 AM. We’ll start with an Edwards rally then off to see Obama, McCain and Clinton.

Stay tuned.

Update: Campaign officials have confirmed to us that the Paul campaign is planning a counter-event on Sunday night and that details would be released shortly.