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No tears in New Hampshire: Hillary stuns Obama

BY GLENN THRUSH | glenn.thrush@newsday.com

12:03 AM EST, January 9, 2008

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MANCHESTER, N.H. - No more tears.

After five emotionally draining days, including one in which she nearly broke down, Hillary Rodham Clinton mounted a dramatic comeback against heavily favored Barack Obama in New Hampshire Tuesday, riding an unexpected wave of support among women voters to a 6,000-vote win last night.

Clinton led Obama 39 percent to 37 percent with about 79 percent of precincts reporting. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards finished third with 17 percent.

"Over the last week, I listened to you and in the process I found my own voice," she told a euphoric audience of several hundred at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester in her victory speech last night. "Let's give America the kind of comeback you just gave me. ... We are in it for the long run."

After congratulating Clinton, Obama told his supporters, "We always knew our climb would be steep. You made it clear that at this moment in this election, there is something happening in America. ... You can be a new majority."

As expected, Obama pulled heavily from the state's unaffiliated or independent voters, who made up nearly half of those who supported him.

Clinton's internal polling on election eve showed her falling to Obama by 12 or more points -- even more than the 8-point average loss predicted in public polls. The Obama campaign's internal numbers showed him winning by anywhere between 4 and 11 points, sources said.

Some of Clinton's top staffers were so depressed last night with their prospects, they had to be summoned from local taverns with news of the better-than-expected result.

Throughout the day, the cable news channels portrayed the record turnout in the Granite State, helped by balmy 67-degree temperatures, as proof that Obama was headed to a huge win among energized independents and college students. The biggest news around Clinton's campaign were rumors about which top aides Clinton would ditch after a debilitating loss here.

Instead she bounced back, besting her husband's second-place "Comeback Kid" performance in 1992. Hundreds of supporters at Clinton's election night headquarters burst into applause at 10:35 p.m. when The Associated Press called the race for the former first lady.

Her resurgence was fueled by a huge turnout of female supporters -- a far different story line than Obama's 35-to-32 percent win among female voters at Thursday's Iowa caucus.

When CNN reported that exit polls showed Clinton leading Obama 47 percent to 34 percent among women, the crowd watching the results at Southern New Hampshire College roared in approval.

The short span between New Hampshire and Iowa made for a frenzied week of campaigning in which Clinton went on the attack against Obama, deriding his record on the Iraq War and questioning his credentials as an agent of change.

After beating out Clinton for second place in Iowa, Edwards finished a distant third but vowed to fight on despite running low on campaign cash.

"Two states down," said the former North Carolina senator, "and 48 to go."

Clinton's victory may have halted a seemingly unstoppable surge in popularity Obama has ridden since his stunning nine-point win in Thursday's Iowa caucus. The victory prompted Clinton's top strategist, Mark Penn, to say he was adopting a strategy that relied on wins in big Feb. 5 states, including New York, New Jersey, Florida and California.

Clinton still faces an uphill fight in Nevada and South Carolina later this month, but most of her advisers believed she needed a big win to stay viable and raise enough funds to keep her campaign competitive.

The polling took place on a chaotic day of ricocheting rumors of a major staff shake-up in the Clinton camp that was expected to include the reassignment or possible replacement of Penn.

Late in the day, campaign officials said that Maggie Williams, a longtime Hillary Clinton loyalist who was her top aide in the White House, was coming onboard to coordinate the day-to-day staff operations. It wasn't clear what implication the move would have on current campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle.

Ann Lewis, Clinton's lead organizer for women, said her performance among female voters constituted her "margin" of victory.

Fittingly last night, Clinton thanked her 88-year-old mother, Dorothy Rodham, who campaigned with her throughout the state. "I want to thank my family," she said, "Particularly my mother, who is watching on TV."