Kerry Wins Second Major Test in New Hampshire

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards continued to battle for third place late Tuesday, with Clark holding a narrow 1,000-vote lead with 92 percent of the vote tallied. Both men had earned roughly 12 percent of total votes cast.

Clark and Edwards were followed closely by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman who had 9 percent. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, finished sixth with 1 percent.

“I love New Hampshire — and I love Iowa too,” Kerry, who garnered 39 percent of the vote, told cheering supporters Tuesday night. “And I hope with your help to have the blessing and the opportunity to love a lot of other states in the days to come.”

Kerry’s come-from-behind victory in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 19 appeared to propel him into the lead in New Hampshire, where he had trailed Dean and Clark. At one point in December Kerry was more than 30 percentage points from the lead in the polls.

“This victory belongs to all of you who made the phone calls, who walked the cold, snowy streets, gave your hearts, your hands and countless sleepless nights,” Kerry said. “You stayed the course here in New Hampshire and because of you this has been a happy and successful campaign.”

Kerry further said that he is ready to defeat President Bush, who he accused of catering to a select group of special interests.

“I have spent my whole life fighting for what is right and against powerful special interests and I have only just begun to fight,” Kerry said to loud cheers.

Kerry further called on all Democrats to help him “beat George W. Bush and the economy of privilege and so that we can fulfill the ideal of opportunity not just for some, but for all Americans.”

Dean hailed his second place finish as a comeback of sorts after finishing third in the Iowa caucuses and slipping in the New Hampshire polls.

“We came in a solid second, I think that’s good,” Dean, who garnered approximately 26 percent of the vote, told CNN. “We needed a recovery from what we did in Iowa.”

Dean said that his disappointing finish in Iowa helped erode his once commanding lead in the Granite State.

“I was pleased to recover; we were knocked down pretty hard when we were the front-runner,” Dean said.

The former Vermont governor delivered a subdued speech to supports, stressing his determination to continue the fight for the nomination, but avoid the angry, defiant tone that had marked his speech after the Iowa caucuses, which was criticized by pundits and lampooned on late night television.

Dean told supporters that their work had “allowed our campaign to regain its momentum and I am thankful.”

He also said his campaign would continue nationally, telling campaign staffers and volunteers, “we’re all together in this, stand with us until the very end, which is Jan. 20, 2005.”

Clark and Edwards cast their finishes as moral victories that will allow them to run as viable candidates in a string of upcoming multi-state “super primaries” that begin Feb. 3.

Clark, who appeared headed for a third-place finish, told supporters that he was happy with his “final four” placement in New Hampshire and was looking forward to other states.

“We’re heading south. We’re heading west. And we’re not slowing down until the last buzzer sounds,” he told a crowd of pom-pom waving supporters. “Today was just the first battle in our campaign to take America back.”

Clark reportedly planned to fly to South Carolina Tuesday night to begin campaigning for that state’s Feb. 3 primary.

Edwards, who had surged from the low single-digits to a tie for third, told reporters his campaign would continue to gain momentum as it moved into more familiar territory.

“I feel very encouraged going into the next stage,” Edwards told CNN, adding that he too planned to leave on Tuesday night for South Carolina, a state he says he must win in order to remain a viable candidate.

Edwards said his virtual tie for third place signaled a “continuation of the momentum we had in Iowa,” where the North Carolinian finished an unexpectedly strong second.

“This campaign and this message is working,” Edwards said. “We have huge momentum and we just need to keep it going.”

Edwards later reiterated his campaign themes, telling supporters that President Bush’s policies had helped create “two Americas,” one for the wealthy and one for the poor and working class who are faced with inadequate health care, education, and tax systems.

“You and I can build one America,” Edwards said.

Lieberman said that he had tied for third place with Clark and Edwards, though election returns clearly showed him trailing the other two candidates by 3 percentage points in fifth place.

The Connecticut senator told supporters he expected to do well in upcoming elections where candidates from neighboring states, such as Dean and Kerry, would have less of a regional advantage.

“The people of New Hampshire put me in the ring, and that’s where I’m going to stay,” Lieberman said. “It’s a cause, and we’re ready to take that cause to the rest of America.”

Although Kerry led the New Hampshire race in most opinion polls for the past week, he said he believed the race would be competitive and campaigned hard, greeting motorists at the entrance to the Merrimack River bridge near Concord Tuesday, urging them to support him at the polls.

Voter turnout was historically high, despite frigid temperatures that hovered in the teens in most parts of the state Tuesday. State officials and media outlets said the turnout could end up as high as 200,000, which would set a record. In 1992, 168,000 people turned out for the presidential primary.

The top finishers in New Hampshire must now enter a grueling stretch of multi-state primaries, starting with the Feb. 3 “super primary” when Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Carolina will hold elections and allocate 269 delegates for the party’s national convention in July.

The South Carolina primary will be the Democratic field’s first contest in the South, a region of the country many political experts consider vital in order to win the general election.

Missouri is the biggest prize on Feb. 3, with 74 delegates up for grabs. The state is now in contention after “favorite son” candidate Rep. Richard Gephardt dropped out of the race following his fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses.

Arizona represents the second biggest delegate haul of Feb. 3, with 55 delegates at stake. Political experts say a heavy influx of people from all over the nation makes the state a good testing ground for the mood of the country as a whole. Republicans in the state hold a slight advantage in the number of registered voters, but in the last decade the state has been closely split in statewide elections.

Under Democratic Party rules, a candidate needs 2,159 delegate votes out of a total of 4,317 to win the party’s nomination for president.

A total of 3,520 “pledged” delegates — who must vote for the candidate who won their state’s primary election — are up for grabs in primary contests in 2004. An additional 797 unpledged “super” delegates — who can vote for whomever they wish — also attend the national convention. Super delegates are usually party leaders and elected officials.

Party leaders and political observers believe the March 2 super primary, when 10 states — including California and New York — will allocate some 1,151 pledged delegates, may be the winnowing contest that will make one candidate the de facto nominee.