|
'Comeback Kid' McCain wins NH
09/01/2008 07:08 - (SA)
|
|
|
 |
|
| Republican presidential hopeful Senator John McCain addresses supporters on election night in Nashua, New Hampshire. (Charles Krupa, AP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nashua, New Hampshire - John McCain rode straight back into the thick of the race for the Republican presidential nomination after a first place finish in New Hampshire, where he hinted that he had earned the nickname "the Comeback Kid".
"I hate to use the word 'kid,' but I think we showed the people of this country what a real comeback looks like," the Arizona senator told The Associated Press in an interview on Tuesday, savouring victory in the state he won eight years ago during his first White House bid.
"I'm grateful to the people of New Hampshire. I'm committed to keeping this country safe, and we're going to move on to Michigan and South Carolina and win the nomination," he added.
Stunning comeback
According to projections, McCain got 37% of the vote, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney came second with 32%, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee won 11%, while former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani got nine percent of the vote.
It was, indeed, a stunning comeback for the four-term senator McCain, who went from presumed front-runner a year ago to seemingly finished last summer after his campaign all but imploded. McCain not only stayed alive, but now heads into the next contest in America's state-by-state nominating process on January 15 in Michigan with the momentum and the potential to raise much-need money.
His triumph in New Hampshire sets up a high-stakes rematch with Mitt Romney in Michigan. McCain won there in 2000 and still has support there; Romney was reared in the state and is the son of a former governor. No other Republican plans to compete aggressively in Michigan, where economic issues will dominate and independents can vote in either party's primary.
From there, McCain is angling for victory in South Carolina. He lags in polls in the military heavy state but hopes his Vietnam prisoner of war biography, decades of experience on defence issues, and staunch support of the Iraq war will outweigh Republicans' deeply held anger about his relatively forgiving position on immigration as well as their doubts about his loyalty to the Republicans.
- AP
|
