(2007-01-19) Mccain Losing New Hampshire Indies

John [[Mc Cain]] is support among the independent-registered voters of New Hampshire. Bennett says ARG is finding a similar trend in other states polled, including early primary battlegrounds like Iowa and Nevada. "We're finding this everywhere," he says. The main reason isn't hard to find: His hawkish stance on the Iraq war, which is tying him ever more closely to an unpopular president. "Independent support for Mc Cain is evaporating because they view him as tied to Bush," says Bennett... New Hampshire is among the states that allow independents to vote in either party's primary. It was their support that gave Mc Cain his huge primary victory there over then-Texas Gov. George W Bush in 2000. If the senator is losing that base, it opens the GOP race to other challengers. And it weakens his strongest pitch to Republican die-hards - namely that his appeal to independents makes him the most electable candidate in the general election.