Battlegrounders
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NEW HAMPSHIRE: SURROGATE CITY [Mike Tuffin 10/20 10:56 AM]

Polls are starting to show Kerry with a lead here but neither side is letting up. Faith healer John Edwards campaigned yesterday in a Windham, part of the "commuter zone" of swing towns close to Massachusetts. Bush won Windham by 18 points in 2000.

Unlike many battleground states where socially conservative Democrats decide elections, moderate Republicans are the swing vote in New Hampshire. And as we hit the home stretch, the Bush campaign is sending centrist faces to New Hampshire. White House CoS Andy Card, who hails from Massachusetts, is here today. First Lady Laura Bush makes her second visit in as many months on Thursday. Unless Kerry pulls away, look for Sen. McCain to campaign here in the closing days.

The Bush campaign will relish the contrast of the dignified and overwhelmingly popular Mrs. Bush posted up against the other side’s main attraction on Thursday. Yes, it will be none other than mockumentarian Michael Moore who brings his carnival act to Rye on Thursday at an event co-sponsored by the left-wing, soft-money front-group America Coming Together (ACT). There is a $5 fee to hear Moore, but event organizers say the fee will be waived for those who claim they can’t afford it. ACT, by the way, is all over New Hampshire. The George Soros-backed voter-turnout operation has been on the ground ever since Kerry wrapped up the nomination and has maintained an intensity level that continues to impress long-time observers.

As noted yesterday, all of this activity is being completely overshadowed by the Red Sox-Yankees epic.