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Posted: January 8, 2008 10:59 PM
Clinton Captures Win in N.H. in 'Miracle Comeback'
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Sen. Hillary Clinton is the projected winner in the New Hampshire primary contest, according to the Associated Press and major news networks — a stunning upset that defied expectations going into the vote.

Clinton withstood what her husband called Tuesday a tidal wave of support rising for Sen. Barack Obama, who bested Clinton in last week’s Iowa caucuses.

Clinton thanked New Hampshire for helping her find her voice as she delivered her victory speech Tuesday night.

“We are going to take what we have learned here in New Hampshire and we are going to rally on and make our case. We are in it for the long run,” Clinton said. “This victory will serve notice that people across our country know what’s really at stake.”

Her words Tuesday night echoed the emotional plea she has made on the campaign trail for clarity on who is really prepared to lead the country.

“We came back tonight because you spoke loudly and clearly you want this campaign to be about you because there is so much at stake for our country,” Clinton told the crowd.

Analyst David Brooks of the New York Times told the NewsHour prior to the victory that he hadn’t “met anybody who thinks Hillary Clinton’s going to win this primary,” and said it would be an be an “earthquake on top of an earthquake” if she managed the win.

The win is “a miracle comeback” Tim Grieve wrote on Salon.com

Tuesday’s win comes on the heels of several days of campaigning in New Hampshire that saw Clinton almost break down in tears and aggressively question the substance and ability behind Obama’s rhetoric, including his references to the civil rights movement and the words of Martin Luther King.

“Doctor King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, something the president before had not even tried,” Clinton said in an interview with the Fox News Channel.

“But it took a president to get it done.”

The emotional side Clinton has shown in recent days may have helped her in the long run, said the Atlantic.com’s Andrew Sullivan.

“I suspect that Clinton’s frankness, desperation, emotional volatility, temper and vulnerability these past three days pushed some to keep her campaign alive.”

Both Clinton and Terry McAuliffe, Clinton’s campaign chairman, had downplayed the importance of New Hampshire early Tuesday and started to direct attention towards future primaries.

“I’ve been with the Clintons for a long time,” McAuliffe said. “We’ve been up and down, but in the end we’re always in.”

Even before polls closed on Tuesday, it was reported by the Washington Post that big changes are in the works for Clinton’s campaign strategy as they apparently planned to retool her message after another loss.

Maggie Williams, Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff during President Bill Clinton’s first term, was rumored to be coming onboard as a campaign coordinator.

Other reports have Jim Carville and Paul Begala, advisers from Bill Clinton’s 1992 race joining Hillary’s post-New Hampshire campaign. Carville denied the report to Talking Points Memo’s Greg Sargent.

“There was a sense that Barack Obama was going to win,” analyst Mark Shields said on the NewsHour Tuesday. “There was a rush to judgment on a lot of people’s part, the race was certainly not going to be over tonight.”