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BOSTON -- Gov. Paul Cellucci used to believe Republican governor-led states would serve as a "firewall" to contain the spread of Sen. John McCain's popularity.

Now, the governor acknowledges the walls could have a few cracks, even his own state, where he's the state chairman of the George W. Bush campaign.

The latest poll in Massachusetts shows the Texas governor trailing the Arizona senator 58 to 34 percent among likely GOP primary voters. Those figures were tallied Sunday and Monday, before McCain's victory Tuesday in Michigan.

"I think in some of the states that have open primaries it's going to be difficult like it was in Michigan," Cellucci said.

Cellucci had predicted a Bush victory in Michigan, but that was thwarted by independent voters or Democrats who crossed over to support the McCain. That's a scenario Bush also faces in Massachusetts.

The latest tally from the Secretary of State's office on Wednesday showed more than 21,700 voters switched from Democrat to unenrolled in time for the March 7 primary. Another 4,091 traded in their Democratic affiliation for Republican.

And just last week Cellucci predicted a Bush win in Massachusetts -- something he wouldn't repeat Wednesday.

Following Bush's primary victory in South Carolina, Cellucci said: "Gov. Bush has now won convincingly in three of the first four states; this momentum will lead to victory in the Massachusetts Primary and again in Massachusetts next fall."

When asked if he was still pledging a win here, Cellucci said, "It's an uphill fight, but we're going to work very hard."

Cellucci acknowledged many voters in the state dropped their Democratic Party affiliation to register as unenrolled or as Republicans to enable them to vote for McCain.

But, he said, that trend also bodes well for Republicans in the long run.

"I think it shows big dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party and I think that's very good news for the Republicans in the fall," he said.

Jean Inman, former state Republican party chair, now chairwoman for the McCain campaign in Massachusetts, said of the Michigan results, "The firewall fell over."

"The Michigan results confirmed what we're see happening here in Massachusetts, and that is the senator is appealing to a very broad spectrum of voters, not only to Republicans and independents, but also conservative-leaning Democrats," she said.

Cellucci said the bounce that McCain got from clobbering Bush in New Hampshire, the nation's first primary, is having an effect on Bay State voters.

"Massachusetts is kind of ground zero from the impact of the New Hampshire primary where it was basically played out on our TV screens and in our newspapers, so I think McCain has got pretty good numbers in all the New England states. It just makes our job harder," Cellucci said.

But even if Bush loses in the open primary states, Cellucci said he is confident Bush will be the ultimate victor.

"I think what I said was having all but one of the Republican governors was the firewall of firewalls. I think that in the end I'll be proven right about that," he said.

Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, who was here Wednesday to talk about the dangers of taxing e-commerce, also said he believed some Democrats in his state were looking for an alternative to the Democratic candidates. He said he hoped they turned to Bush.

Virginia's primary, which is an open primary, is next Tuesday.

Asked if he was confident Bush would win in Virginia, he said, "I'm confident, but I'm also not taking it for granted. I do not presume to know what the people of Virginia will do."