Posted by
Will Malven on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 8:23:07 AM
In the "not what it seems" category, we have the following two stories:
N.Y. Senator Defies Polls, Edges Obama
By Anne E. Kornblut and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 9, 2008; Page A01
MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 8 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton narrowly won the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday night, a surprise victory for the onetime front-runner that revived her sagging fortunes and reshaped yet again the fight for the party's nomination.
"Over the last week I listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice," Clinton (N.Y.) said at her victory rally, embracing a newly emotional campaign style that appeared to fuel her turnaround here. "Let's give America the kind of comeback New Hampshire has just given me."
Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), who had anticipated a second consecutive win after his Iowa caucus triumph last Thursday, conceded shortly before 11 p.m. "We always knew our climb would be steep," he told supporters, a day after he had confidently told backers that he was "riding a wave" to a win here. Former senator John Edwards (N.C.) placed a distant third, followed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
The results of this were as predictable as the polls proved to be wrong, but were the polls wrong? I have a different take on these two primary results What Happens in New Hampshire, Stays in New Hampshire...Maybe
Clinton and McCain Rebound to Take N.H.
Romney 2nd in GOP Contest; Iowa Winner Huckabee Is 3rd
By Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 9, 2008; Page A01
MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 8 -- Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the early Republican front-runner whose campaign imploded last summer, handily won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, dealing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney his second loss in the GOP nomination contest.
McCain's victory amounts to a dramatic resurrection for the 71-year-old veteran of presidential politics and further scrambles a Republican race that now moves to Michigan and South Carolina. After New Hampshire, the fight for a new Republican standard-bearer remains a wide-open contest.
"My friends, I'm past the age when I can claim the name 'kid,' no matter what adjective precedes it," McCain told an ecstatic crowd here. "But tonight, we sure showed 'em what a comeback looks like. When the pundits declared us finished, I told 'em, 'I'm going to New Hampshire, where the voters don't let you make their decision for them.' "
We must not forget that the voting rules for New Hampshire are fairly unique. First, you can register to vote in that state one day and vote in the primary the next, second New Hampshire has a very large pool of "undecided" voters who are not required to declare their allegiance and can choose for whom they will vote in the voting booth. Both of these fairly unique factors came into play last night.
Those two factors combined with the inane "sympathy vote" Hillary inevitable gets when she plays the "poor little me, I'm just a woman up against all these mean old men" game.
Long Live Our American Republic!!!