Hillary Rodham
Clinton stunned Barack Obama in New Hampshire's Democratic
primary, defying polls and pundits to resurrect her bid for
the White House.
John McCain won
the Republican race, completing a remarkable comeback and
climbing back into contention for the U.S. presidential
nomination.
Clinton's victory
Tuesday capped a comeback of her own from last week's
third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and raised the
possibility of a long battle for the party nomination
between Obama, the most viable black candidate in U.S.
history, and Clinton, seeking to become the first woman
to win the U.S. presidency.
''I felt like we
all spoke from our hearts, and I am so gratified that
you responded,'' Hillary Clinton said in victory remarks
before cheering supporters. ''Now together, let's give
America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has
just given me.''
After Iowa,
Clinton and her aides seemed resigned to a second
consecutive setback. Polling place interviews showed,
however, that wpmen voters, who deserted Clinton last
week, were solidly in her New Hampshire column. The
state had a record turnout for a primary election.
Word of Clinton's
triumph set off a raucous celebration among supporters
gathered at a hotel in Nashua to celebrate. The
victory was every bit as surprising as the strong,
second-place finish by her husband, Bill Clinton, in
New Hampshire 16 years ago that allowed him to proclaim
himself ''the comeback kid.''
The New Hampshire
primary is the first on the political calendar, and a
strong showing in the northeastern state has the power to
propel candidates into the rush of primaries that
follow.
Clinton had 39%
of the vote in the Democratic primary to 36% for Obama,
the first-term senator who won the Iowa caucuses. John
Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential candidate, trailed
with 17%. Edwards, who finished second in Iowa, said
he would continue his campaign.
McCain's victory
scrambled the Republican race as well. He rode a wave of
support from independent voters to defeat Mitt Romney,
former governor of the neighboring state of
Massachusetts. The victory reprised McCain's victory
in the 2000 New Hampshire primary over George W. Bush.
''We showed this
country what a real comeback looks like,'' the U.S.
senator from Arizona told the Associated Press.
McCain, a
71-year-old senator and former prisoner of war in Vietnam,
was the long-ago front-runner. But his campaign fell
apart last year when his fund-raising dried up and his
support collapsed. He shed much of his staff and
regrouped. An unflinching supporter of the Iraq war, he
benefited when U.S. casualties declined in the wake of a
controversial buildup of U.S. troops.
The primary was a
bitter blow for Romney, who spent millions of dollars
of his own money in hopes of winning the Iowa caucuses and
the New Hampshire primary -- and finished second in
both. Even so, he said he would stay in the race.
McCain was
winning 37% of the Republican vote, Romney had 32%. Mike
Huckabee, the Baptist preacher-turned-politician who won the
Iowa caucuses, finished third in New Hampshire with
11%. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who
campaigned little in New Hampshire, had 9%.
Huckabee,
Giuliani, and McCain have been leaders in rapidly changing
national polls.
Clinton had long
been the Democratic front-runner and, until recently,
was regarded as the inevitable Democratic nominee. Still her
triumph in New Hampshire was unexpected.
Obama, the son of
a Kenyan man, drew huge crowds as he swept into New
Hampshire after winning Iowa. Confident of victory, he stuck
to his pledge to deliver ''change we can believe in,''
while Clinton was forced to retool her appeal to
voters on the run. She lessened her emphasis on
experience and sought instead to raise questions about
Obama's ability to bring about the change he promised.
Clinton's
performance came as a surprise even to her own inner circle.
In the hours leading up to the poll closing, her
closest advisers had appeared to be bracing for a
second defeat at the hands of Obama.
Officials said
her aides were considering whether in effect to concede
the next two contests -- caucuses in Nevada on January 19
and a South Carolina primary a week later -- and
instead try to regroup in time for a 22-state round of
Democratic contests on February 5.
Obama expects the
endorsement of a major union in Nevada. South
Carolina's Democratic electorate is heavily black and likely
to go for the most viable black presidential candidate
in history.
The Republican
race turns next to Michigan, where McCain and Romney
already are advertising on television and where both men
planned appearances on Wednesday. Huckabee, also a
leader in national polls, was expected to campaign in
the state as well.
In New Hampshire,
about 453,000 residents cast votes, breaking the
previous primary turnout record of 396,385 ballots cast in
2000. State officials predicted that when all ballots
were counted, the total would surpass 500,000.
According to
preliminary results of a survey of voters as they left their
polling places, more independents cast ballots in the
Democratic race than in the Republican contest. They
accounted for four of every 10 Democratic votes and
about a third of Republican ballots. The survey was
conducted for the Associated Press and the television
networks.
Republicans were
split roughly evenly in naming the nation's top issues:
the economy, Iraq, illegal immigration, and terrorism.
Romney had a big lead among those naming immigration,
while McCain led on the other issues.
Among Democrats,
about one third each named the economy and Iraq as the
top issues facing the country, followed by health care.
Voters naming the economy were split about evenly
between Obama and Clinton, while Obama had an
advantage among those naming the other two issues. Clinton
has made health care a signature issue for years. (AP)
