Someone posted this last night, found it quite enlightening, if not very concerning:
John McCain did horrible for most all of 2007. He was in the low single digits, and his campaign was in debt and had no money. Similar to Newt Gingrich! Then what happens? Late November/Early December 2007 rolls around, right before the Iowa caucuses, John McCains poll numbers suddenly shoot up out of nowhere and he becomes the media darling, despite a failed and debt ridden campaign up until then. Just like Newt Gingrich! But remarkably, McCain got the nomination, despite a horrible year of campaigning.
At this point, its all about not letting history repeat itself :-/