Meanwhile, the campaign was also attacking McCain over the airwaves, something some of Romney’s advisers said afterward may not have been such a good idea, given McCain’s high favorability ratings across the board in New Hampshire.

The attack advertisements paved the way for a devastating counterattack from the McCain campaign, and what many of Romney’s advisers believe was the most effective commercial of the election cycle, a negative advertisement that cited quotes from newspaper editorials to make the case that Mr. Romney was a fake.

In the end, even though Romney’s aides contended he found his voice in New Hampshire, he wound up losing the state as well.

The campaign chose to make its stand in California, spending $1.7 million in advertising there, as well as a host of states holding caucuses or conventions, and hoped to pick off other primary states, like Georgia or Missouri.