McCain's support for the Iraq war, his faltering fundraising efforts and his association with the status quo in Washington could put him at a significant disadvantage, analysts say.

But with Democratic voters saying they would support McCain if their favored candidate wasn't nominated, he is pulling nearly even against either Democratic candidate, The Baltimore Sun said Sunday.

"He continues to be the luckiest man alive," said Republican strategist Scott Reed.

Yet, McCain can stand on his own, largely running against conventional Republican platforms, and some polls suggest that could be a positive thing.

Several polls show McCain stealing votes from Sen. Barack Obama, D.-Ill, in a theoretical runoff and a taking a good chunk of the under 30 crowd if he faced Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., The Sun reported.

Carl Forti, who worked on a previous GOP campaign, said the criticism against McCain is unwarranted.

"Look, the guy won the nomination when people had written him off, so it's hard to second-guess his strategy," he said.