Romney Campaign Director Slams McCain over Appearance With Lynch

Mitt Romney's New Hampshire Campaign Director released a statement criticizing John McCain's appearance with Governor John Lynch.

This weekend, Lynch greeted McCain at a Hopkinton town hall forum.

Lynch told the crowd that he has "enormous respect and admiration for Senator McCain and all that he has done for all of us all over the country if not all over the world."

The Arizona Senator said "I'm a great admirer of the Governor's." He added "America needs more of what you've done here in the State of New Hampshire."

Romney's campaign director, Jim Merrill, responded with a statement that said "Only John McCain would criticize a fellow Republican one day and then campaign with a Democrat the next."

On Saturday, McCain told a crowd of Republican activists that "As we all know when he (Romney) ran for office in Massachusetts being a Republican wasn't much of a priority for him."

Merrill added "But New Hampshire Republicans know all too well what Governor Lynch's vision for change has meant for New Hampshire. We need the conservative change in Washington that can only come from Governor Romney."

Dante Scala, political science professor at University of New Hampshire-Durham, said "whenever a front-runner responds to a challenger, it's a good day for the challenger."

As of this posting, John McCain's campaign had yet to respond.