MANCHESTER – Eight years ago, Arizona Sen. John McCain was the front-runner in the Republican presidential primary, leading then Texas Gov. George Bush and pulling away.

Today, McCain is the underdog, but two polls show him gaining ground in the Granite State after a week of endorsements from major media, from former Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, and from a former secretary of state to two Presidents, Henry Kissinger.

One poll showed the Arizona senator in what could be considered a dead heat with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

► A third new poll released this morning shows McCain vaulting into a tie with Romney in New Hampshire.

"We're firing on all cylinders," said Mike Dennehy, McCain's national political director. "Everything is coming together perfectly and right when we needed it."

McCain has been courting independents, the state's largest voting bloc. He notes many New Hampshire voters are still undecided.

In an interview last night on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," McCain predicted he would win in New Hampshire, but said, "Whether I 'win' or not is up to you and others (in the media) ... It's expectations."

He attributed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's recent surge in Iowa and national polls to Huckabee's entertaining debate performances and his "likability."

"He comes across as a very decent person who has a sense of humor," McCain said. "The thing I regret is, we have not talked about his health care (plan). We have not talked about education, the war, Iran."

The latest Rasmussen Reports' New Hampshire poll shows Romney with 31 percent, McCain at 27 percent and no one else within striking distance.

The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percent, which puts the candidates in a dead heat.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani attracts 13 percent, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is at 11 percent.

Before the latest endorsements, Romney had 33 percent support and McCain 18. In late-November, Romney led by 19 points and was up by 15 in early November.

According to the latest CNN/WMUR New Hampshire Primary Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, McCain has overtaken Giuliani for second place behind Romney, who has maintained a steady lead with 34 to 32 percent for the last two months.

McCain has 22 percent of the likely Republican voters -- up from 18 percent -- a week ago, while Giuliani has dropped from 19 to 16 percent since last week. Huckabee, who leads polls in Iowa, is fourth with 10 percent and Texas Congressman Ron Paul is fifth with 5 percent.

Romney's New Hampshire campaign spokesman Craig Smith said, "We continue to see that Gov. Romney's support is strong throughout the state. ... He's the one candidate talking about securing our borders, cutting taxes and strengthening families and those issues are very important to New Hampshire voters."

Dennehy said the polls "validates what we are feeling on the ground. With every town hall meeting with John McCain, we have more and more people coming up after and telling (McCain) 'You've got my vote,' which is what occurred in 2000. When the buzz started to occur, that's when things really took off for us."

The UNH Survey Center poll contacted 411 likely Republican voters and 469 likely Democratic voters with a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percent. Voters were contacted between Dec. 13 and 17 for the poll.

Clinton out front in Democratic field

On the Democratic side, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton again leads Sen. Barack Obama, 38 to 26 percent, after being in a dead heat last week. Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards is third with 14 percent and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson fourth at 8 percent.

Riding the bounce from his appearance with Oprah Winfrey last week drawing over 8,000 people, Obama pulled statistically even with Clinton.

Last Saturday, Clinton returned to New Hampshire, went door-to-door in Manchester and held two other events emphasizing her experience particularly on health care issues. Recently, the campaign emphasized the candidate's personal side by showing her with her mother and daughter.

New Hampshire campaign spokesman Kathleen Strand said the campaign has also been very active on the grassroots and policy levels, holding a number of roundtable discussions and canvassing around the state.

In both the Democratic and Republican UNH surveys, many voters said they have yet to finally decide which candidate they will vote for.

Of the likely Democratic voters, 65 percent say they have not definitely decided on a candidate. Of those who have, 54 percent of Clinton's supporters say they have definitely decided to vote for the former First Lady, while 23 percent of Obama's supporters say they definitely will vote for the Illinois Senator.

Among Republicans, 42 percent of Romney's supporters say they definitely will vote for him, while 26 percent of McCain's supporters say they definitely will vote for their candidate. Among likely Republican voters -- 74 percent -- say they have not definitely decided on a candidate.

In both races, independent or undeclared voters could have a significant effect on the outcome of both parties' primary.

In the latest poll, 60 percent said they would likely vote in the Democratic primary, which is up from 54 percent a week ago.

Obama is more popular among Democratic leaning independent voters, but just barely, with a 33 to 31 percent edge over Clinton with 17 percent favoring Edwards.

On the Republican side, undeclared voters favor Romney with 30 percent support, while Giuliani has 25 percent and McCain 23 percent.

In the Rasmussen poll, McCain leads among voters over 65, while Romney does better with younger voters. Romney has the lead among Republicans with McCain holding a slight edge among undeclared voters who expect to vote in the Republican primary. Romney has the edge among conservatives, McCain among moderates.