Hillary and John Win in New Hampshire
Durham, NH (Jan. 8, 2008. TBC) Hillary Clinton and John McCain were victorious in this state tonight, each scoring a much needed first place finish. Democratic presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton beat Barak Obama in a tight race while GOP and independent voters gave Republican, John McCain his second primary victory in this state. He had beaten then Texas Governor, George W. Bush here in 2000. Their victories were significant in that both candidates have had difficulty gaining traction thus far in the campaign season. Hillary Clinton finished third in the Iowa Caucuses last week, with Illinois Senator Obama posting a sizable margin of victory over her and second place finisher former North Carolina Senator, John Edwards. Arizona Senator, McCain’s campaign has been hampered by internal problems, a lack of financial resources, the skeptical right wing conservative base and his unpopular positions on issues such as the war in Iraq and immigration reform. Earlier in the day both candidates basically admitted that tonight was extremely important for the survival of their respective races.
The results in New Hampshire tonight illustrate one of the profound differences between the Iowa Caucuses and this state’s Primary. Former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee rode to victory in Iowa last week on the support of that state’s large voting population of Evangelical Christians and social conservatives. His dismal showing here tonight demonstrates his narrow, faith-based support and does not bode well as the more diverse, densely populated state’s primaries grow near.
Republican Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, who has outspent all his rivals exponentially, has yet to have a finish comparable to his investment. New Hampshire had been seen as fertile ground for Romney since he had been the Governor of a neighboring state and had name recognition here. Perhaps Romney’s last remaining hope is the upcoming Primary in Michigan, the state of his birth where his father had been a popular Governor.
The remaining candidates on both sides who have yet to attract respectable shows of support from voters will have to reassess their strategies or simply wait for Super Tuesday when over half of the states will conduct primaries. Former New York City Mayor, Rudy Guiliani, for example, has based his entire candidacy confident of having support in big states like Florida, California, New York, New Jersey and Ohio. Many observers have questioned his approach and many remain skeptical that he can be competitive nationally.
Republican Fred Thompson, a late comer to the campaign trail, a former Senator from Tennessee may have waited too long to engage. His popularity in the South remains to be seen but, his polling numbers reflect a great deal of uninterest in his candidacy. Democratic wing nuts such as Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden as well as GOP’er, Ron Paul should very shortly be absent from the campaign trail. All have had abysmally poor showings and have certainly wasted enough of other people’s money in their grossly obvious futile efforts.
South Carolina will play host to the next primary and poses unique demographic challenges for all the remaining candidates.
Farley Marsden, New Hampshire Correspondent, TBC
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