Clinton and McCain Rock rivals in the Granite State

Seizing a last minute victory from the jaws of defeat Senator Hillary Clinton beat her main Democratic rival in the race to the White House in a stunning come-from-behind victory over freshman Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. Clinton had been expected to finish second in New Hampshire's presidential primary by a margin of 5 to 10 percentage points behind Senator Barack Obama. Clinton instead surged ahead of Obama winning 39 percent of the vote to 36 percent for the former Illinois state senator. Clinton's victory was due in large part to the support of women and independents who flocked to the Democratic camp by a margin of 40 percent versus 30 to the Republican primary.

John Edwards finished a distant third in the race, securing 17 percent of the vote leaving former Governor Bill Richardson with less than 5 percent at the end of the day. After the third place finish, Edwards appeared undeterred by the result telling supporters it was, "Two down, Forty-eight states to go!" The former South Carolina Senator will be looking for a win in his home state when South Carolinians vote in their primary on January 26th. Edwards best shot at the nation's top job will be solid win in the palmetto state in order to build momentum for his own campaign in time for Tsunami Tuesday on February 5th when voters in twenty-four states will hold caucuses or primaries for the presidential election.

When it came to New Hampshire everyone said Clinton would lose. Pollsters had the former first lady losing today's race and predicted a second win for Obama in less than a week. Pundits said the Clinton's were stale and boring and that the electorate were tired of Bill and Hill. The Clintons battled back to show they are still the team to beat on the road to the 2008 Democratic convention. Clinton now leads her challengers in total delegates to her party's convention with 187 delegates including superdelegates. Obama trails with 89 and Edwards with 50 delegates committed to him. This win in the Northeastern state has breathed new life into the Clinton campaign which will be refined and can be expected to move away from highlighting Mrs. Clinton's years in the public limelight and focus more on Senator Obama's newcomer status in presidential politics.

For John McCain the day couldn't be sweeter. He has prevailed in a contest where he was outspent by his wealthy rival Mitt Romney. Both men have been at loggerheads over immigration, tax cuts and previous stances on social issues and at times their spats have been nettlesome and petty. Despite this, Senator McCain was able to pull in the support of independents and moderates in the Republican party to beat his opponent by carrying 37 percent of the Republican primary vote compared with 32 percent for Romney and 11 percent for Huckabee. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giulliani walked away with 9 percent of the vote edging out Texas Representative Ron Paul who garnered 8 percent. Fred Thompson finished with only 1 percent of the vote in the Republican New Hampshire primary. John Edwards isn't the only candidate who has to do well in South Carolina. If Thompson can't turn in a respectable finish in the red turf of South Carolina he may as well concede and lend his support to his good friend John McCain.

The focus for the Republicans will now turn to Michigan where McCain and Romney are in a heated contest to win that state's primary next Tuesday. Both candidates are running television ads and are campaigning in the state today. John McCain's gold place finish in New Hampshire catapults him from also-ran status to national viability as a GOP contender. A subsequent win for the Arizona Senator in Michigan will seriously hurt Romney and push McCain into the forefront as the Grand old Party's man to beat in 2008.

This should be one great horse race to the finish line.