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 Sweeping wins by Trump, a New York billionaire, and Sanders, a
democratic socialist, on Tuesday testified to the sizable share of
American voters upset at U.S. economic conditions and willing to
send a shockwave to Washington in the Nov. 8 presidential election.
New Hampshire's verdict sets up a tough fight for Republicans in
South Carolina on Feb. 20 and for Democrats there on Feb. 27. Some
of the most monumental campaign battles in elections past have been
fought in the state that holds the first primary election of the
American South.
For Trump, New Hampshire showed he has staying power and can take a
punch after losing on Feb. 1 to Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the first
contest, the Iowa caucuses. His win showed pundits were wrong to
think he would ultimately self-destruct based on his penchant for
insults and imprecise plans for the presidency.
Democrat Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state and
former U.S. senator, now looks wounded, trailing Sanders by 60 to 39
percent based on 86 percent of the returns.The wife of former
President Bill Clinton, Clinton barely won Iowa and now has been
trounced in New Hampshire, where young voters liked Sanders'
populist proposals to break up big banks and have the government pay
for free college tuition.
 “People have every right to be angry but they’re also hungry,
they’re hungry for solutions,” Clinton, 68, said after
congratulating the 74-year-old Sanders. "I will work harder than
anyone to actually make the changes that make your lives better."
Clinton was headed to New York, home to her campaign headquarters,
to regroup with top aides and prepare for Thursday’s Democratic
debate. Her campaign has denied reports it is considering a shakeup
but acknowledged it would be natural to add members to their team as
the campaign progresses.
Sanders said his victory showed "we have sent the message that will
echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California, and
that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of
the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors."
Some 73 percent of voters say they think the United States is on the
wrong track, and these disaffected people make up a majority of the
support bases for Trump and Sanders, according to a Reuters/Ipsos
poll.
They are worried about the economy and distrust establishment
politicians they perceive as being part of the problem.
SHADOW-BOXING TRUMP
Trump, 69, who has campaigned to deport illegal immigrants and
temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States, was in
first place with 35 percent of the vote on the Republican side based
on 88 percent of returns.
At his victory rally, Trump dispensed with niceties. He
congratulated other candidates in the race but promised to soon
return to his pugnacious approach.
"Tomorrow: boom, boom," he said, shadow boxing while his supporters
cheered.
The New Hampshire Republican race did little to clear up confusion
about who would emerge as the establishment contender to Trump on
the Republican side.
Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich, won a spirited fight for
second place in New Hampshire, with Cruz, former Florida Governor
Jeb Bush and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida fighting for third
place. All four were headed to South Carolina.
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Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, lived to fight
another day, making something of a comeback after a strong debate
performance and solid weekend of campaigning.
“While the reality TV star is doing well, it looks like you all have
reset the race," Bush told supporters. "This campaign is not dead.
We're going on to South Carolina."
Rubio failed to dispatch Bush, seeing a drop in his support after a
debate on Saturday in which he drew criticism for repeating
rehearsed lines from his stump speech.
"I did not do well on Saturday night - listen to this: that will
never happen again," Rubio told supporters.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who called out Rubio for his
robotic debate, fell behind the others in the voting and canceled
plans to go to South Carolina, a sign he could drop out soon.
DISENCHANTED VOTERS
Independent voters wield special clout in New Hampshire, second in
the series of state-by-state contests that lead to the parties'
formal presidential nominating conventions in July, because they can
vote in either party's primary.
At a polling station in Manchester, Joan and Roland Martineau said
they voted for the two candidates they believed they could trust to
shake things up.
Joan, 68, went for Sanders. “I like this views, I like the way he
speaks, I think I can trust him,” she said.
Roland, 73, a registered Republican, went for Trump, a man he said
was "more honest" than other candidates. But he said he would back
Sanders over Trump in the general election in November.
Clinton had for months been the front-runner nationally. But a
Reuters/Ipsos poll done Feb 2-5 showed Clinton and Sanders now in a
dead heat.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a memo that the
Democratic nomination would "very likely" be decided in March, with
the support of black and Hispanic voters key to victory. The next
primary races are in Nevada and South Carolina later this month.
"It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for a Democrat to win
the nomination without strong levels of support among
African-American and Hispanic voters," Mook wrote.
(Writing by Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; Additional reporting
by James Oliphant, Luciana Lopez, Ginger Gibson, Steve Holland,
Megan Cassella, Emily Stephenson, John Whitesides, Jonathan Allen,
Susan Heavey, Clarece Polke and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Howard
Goller)
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