|
Hillary's campaign back on track
09/01/2008 09:31 - (SA)
|
|
|
 |
|
| US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton celebrates at her primary election victory rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Elise Amendola, AP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Concord, New Hampshire - Hillary Rodham Clinton won New Hampshire's Democratic primary on Tuesday night in a startling upset, defeating Barack Obama and resurrecting her bid for the White House.
John McCain won the Republican race, completing a remarkable comeback and climbing back into contention for the US presidential nomination.
Clinton's victory 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 US history, and Clinton, seeking to become the first woman to win the US presidency.
After Iowa, Clinton and her aides seemed resigned to a second consecutive setback. Polling place interviews showed, however, that female voters, who deserted Clinton last week, were solidly in her New Hampshire column.
'Comeback kid'
Word of Clinton's triumph set off a raucous celebration among supporters at a hotel in Nashua, gathered there to celebrate a victory 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 north-eastern state has the power to propel candidates into the rush of primaries that follow.
"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."
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 back in the running
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 neighbouring 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 US senator from Arizona told The Associated Press in an interview.
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 fundraising dried up and his support collapsed. He shed much of his staff and regrouped. An unflinching supporter of the Iraq war, he benefited when US casualties declined in the wake of a controversial build-up of US 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 Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who campaigned little in New Hampshire, had nine percent.
- AP
|
