Hillary Clinton, John McCain Score Victories in New Hampshire
09 January 2008
With different winners in earliest races, neither party has a front-runner
Washington -- New Hampshire voters showed up in record numbers and surprised many by casting their ballots for Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary January 8.
Despite nearly every poll predicting a Clinton loss and media reports of her campaign staff in disarray, the New York senator won the Democratic presidential primary by about two percentage points over Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
"I come tonight with a very, very full heart and I want especially to thank New Hampshire. Over the last week, I listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice," Clinton told her supporters. "Let's give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me."
Obama congratulated Clinton on her win and then told his supporters, "We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change."
McCain also used the term "comeback" in his victory speech. When he first entered the 2008 presidential race, he was seen as one of the favorites to win, but his numbers sank in the polls during the summer and many political experts saw his campaign as hopeless.
"Tonight we sure showed 'em what a comeback looks like," McCain said over cheers of “Mac is back!”
"I talked to the people of New Hampshire. I listened to you. Sometimes, I argued with you. But I always told you the truth, as best as I can see the truth. And you did me the great honor of listening," he said.
McCain also led the voting on the Republican side in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, a small community near the Canadian border, which makes an extra effort to be the first location in the United States to cast and count votes in the presidential nomination race. Dixville Notch opened its polls at midnight January 8. The polls were closed a few minutes later after all 17 registered voters cast their ballots and the results were announced. A state law allows communities to close polls and announce results after voting is over. (See related article.)
The 2008 win is the second New Hampshire victory for McCain, who won the 2000 New Hampshire primary over President Bush, who was the governor of Texas at the time.
McCain defeated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who led the state's polls until a few weeks ago, by about five percentage points. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee finished third.
Despite his victory in Iowa, Huckabee was not expected to win New Hampshire. His win in Iowa, in part, was due to strong support from evangelical Christians, who do not make up a large part of New Hampshire's population.
WITH NO CLEAR FRONT-RUNNER, CANDIDATES HEAD TO NEXT STATES
With the Iowa and New Hampshire races behind them, the candidates will travel to a number of different states. In January, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida will hold races. On February 5, more than 20 states will hold primary elections.
Three Republican candidates each have won a caucus or primary -- Huckabee in Iowa, McCain in New Hampshire and Romney in Wyoming. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been focusing his campaign on winning a majority of states’ contests on February 5. With so many candidates, it is very unclear who ultimately will win the Republican nomination.
"We celebrate one victory tonight and leave for Michigan tomorrow to win another," McCain told his supporters. Like McCain, Huckabee and Romney will spend much of the next few days in the state where Romney was raised. The three are in a close race in Michigan.
McCain and Huckabee likely also will spend significant time in South Carolina, where Huckabee has strong support from evangelical Christians. Giuliani's campaign schedule will include stops in Florida and many of the February 5 states.
Most political experts and voters now seem to view the Democratic contest a two-person race between Clinton and Obama.
"Tomorrow, we're going to get up, roll up our sleeves and keep going," Clinton told her supporters. But neither Democratic candidate will campaign in Michigan because the state violated party rules by moving its primary to before February 5. Obama removed his name from the state's ballot, which means Clinton is almost certain to achieve a victory in Michigan although its delegates’ votes might not be counted in the nomination convention.
Instead, the Democratic candidates most likely will spend the next two weeks focusing on Nevada and South Carolina before turning their attention to the February 5 contests.
And in the coming days, pollsters, political experts and American voters alike will examine the New Hampshire victories and develop theories on why they happened.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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