Month: January 2008

It looks as if female voters rallied at the last moment to Clinton. She won them 47 to 34. The tears worked? Wait for the come-back kid rhetoric.

A reader reminds me that Durham (UNH) and Hanover (Dartmouth) have yet to report a single vote.

Maybe New Hampshire voters just didn’t want to see Clinton ejected so soon. Pity? Fear of a rush to judgment? The media’s hyping of the tears? It sure is much closer than anyone expected. Of course, there’s a long way to go. But with a third of the votes in, Clinton is four points ahead.

… that Obama is doing better among the smaller big towns.

I’m getting a sinking feeling, as I did in 2004. The exit polls suggested a clear win for Obama. But Clinton is still ahead. Yes, Manchester is strong for her, and is reporting first. But some dread rises …

In the state he’s relying on for his comeback, he’s now fourth.

A reader writes:

You know, reading some of the reactions that my fellow libertarians have had to the TNR piece about Paul’s less-than-savory newsletters makes me wonder why so many of us are pretending that this is actually news. The Kirchick article doesn’t tell us anything that we didn’t already know about our candidate before. The newsletters were no secret before.

As a Paul supporter myself, I think there really isn’t an excuse for not having made a bigger deal about it long ago. Paul was a refreshing candidate in many ways–especially for a movement sorely tired of the mainstream GOP. Too many of us (myself included) overlooked the newsletters because we were too excited about his anti-establishment platform and rhetoric. We were wrong to do that. Very, very wrong.

The backlash from all of this will be harsh, no doubt. It might even leave a long-lasting mark on libertarian conservatism. I think we deserve it.

Ambers has some exit poll data on the Democratic race:

Obama won independents, getting nearly 50% of their votes. Independents comprised about 41% of the Democratic primary vote. But Hillary Clinton won among registered Democrats: 38% to 32%. Clinton wins women narrowly: 40% to 36%.

STUNNER: 47% say Obama is most likely to beat Republicans, compared to 33% for Clinton. But Clinton is still viewed as qualified to be commander in chief: 37% say she’s the most qualified, versus Obama at 27%.

Obama now has electability going for him. But the Clinton machine isn’t dead, and it’s pulling every lever it has.

(Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty.)

That’s the other story to come out of the GOP race:

Statistics compiled by ABC News Political Unit and ABC News’ team of off-air reporters indicate that Giuliani held more events in this first-in-the-nation primary state than any other Republican except for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in neighboring Massachusetts. He also spent more on TV ads than anyone except for Romney and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

And now he’s struggling to beat Ron Paul in the early returns.

A parallel?