Presidential hopeful John McCain, whose campaign was moribund two months ago, has quietly climbed back into third place among GOP candidates, passing rival Mitt Romney in national polls. According to the Web site RealClearPolitics, which averages national opinion surveys, McCain's support among Republicans has jumped more than five points in less than a week, climbing to 15.6 percent from 10.3 percent. Romney fell from 14.2 percent a few days ago to 11.6 percent.

McCain now only trails Rudy Giuliani (27.8 percent) and newly declared candidate Fred Thompson (23.2 percent.)

Seeking to capitalize on his momentum, McCain turned up the heat Wednesday on Democratic presidential candidates. He demanded they disavow the liberal group MoveOn.org for impugning Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, as "General Betray Us."

"I remain deeply disappointed by the failure of leading Democrat presidential candidates to personally and publicly denounce the smear tactics used against General Petraeus by MoveOn.org," McCain said. "There is no greater slander to a soldier than an accusation of betrayal to his nation."

This story continues below
Advertisement

In early July, McCain fired most of his top advisers as his big-spending campaign went broke and sank in the polls. Although many pundits wrote him off, McCain seemed to get a second wind last week with a strong performance in a nationally televised GOP debate in New Hampshire.

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden downplayed the importance of McCain's uptick in national support. "National polls would mean more if there was a national primary, but instead we have state-by-state primaries," he said.

"In the early primary states, where voters are the most engaged and have seen or heard from candidates more frequently, we are in very good shape." Romney is the Republican front-runner in Iowa, site of the first caucuses, and New Hampshire, site of the first primary. In Iowa, he has the support of 30.8 percent of Republicans, compared with 6.6 percent for McCain, who is in fifth place, according to RealClearPolitics.

In New Hampshire, Romney has the support of 30 percent of GOP voters, compared with 12.8 percent for McCain, who is in third place.

bsammon@dcexaminer.com