Keller @ Large: Panel Previews New Hampshire Primary

BOSTON (CBS) -- Just two days ahead of the New Hampshire Primary, former Boston Globe columnist Joanna Weiss and long-time Republican consultant Charlie Manning agreed that Bernie Sanders and Marco Rubio were gaining in popularity because they were "change candidates."

"Rubio's really the wild card here," said Manning about the GOP side of the race. "He has preached electability, and again we get to that change thing. He's running as a change candidate, Donald Trump is a populist."

Weiss and Manning sat down with WBZ political analyst Jon Keller to preview the first-in-the-nation primary in the Granite State. Both had tough words for Hillary Clinton.

"I think Hilary Clinton is the same person she always has been, and this is a year that's very difficult for her because Bernie Sanders is riding a wave of anti-establishment, anti-Wall Street, it's been working wonders for him, and she doesn't have a good response," said Weiss.

Manning said that, after two terms of President Obama, Sanders represented a change to voters.

"Even though he's an older guy, Bernie Sanders is sort of the new cool thing, and he has a new message for the Democratic party," said Manning.

And Weiss agreed that Rubio was the "cool new thing" candidate for the Republicans--but she said his challenge will be to get votes from moderates.

"The interesting thing about Rubio is that he appeals to conservatives, really, more than to moderates," said Weiss. " Whether Rubio can, as the fresh, young, new candidate also bring in moderate voters when his positions are actually largely more conservative than Trump's is going to be an interesting question."

The two analysts also talked about the issue of Hillary Clinton's paid Goldman-Sachs speeches, and made predictions about which candidates were likely to drop out after New Hampshire.

Weiss and Manning will offer analysis of the New Hampshire Primary on WBZ-TV starting Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.