The Hindu : Kerry wins New Hampshire

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

International

International

Kerry wins New Hampshire

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JAN. 28. One week after posting a stunning victory in the Iowa Caucuses, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts has scored big win again in New Hampshire and in the process looking to further consolidate the gains in the next set of primaries on February 2.

In New Hampshire, Mr. Kerry came away first with 39 per cent of the vote and he was followed by the former Governor of Vermont, Howard Dean, at a distant second with 26 per cent of the vote. It is a dead heat for the third place between the retired General Wesley Clark of Arkansas and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. Both of them have in the neighbourhood of 13 per cent of the vote.

A very disappointing fourth finish was for Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. And the tiny State, which is known for its political surprises, did not, by and large, produce one this time around. New Hampshire sends 22 pledged delegates to the Democratic Convention this summer; Mr. Kerry will pick up 14 delegates and Mr. Dean will get eight. Political analysts are saying that Mr. Kerry has established the "firm command" in the Democratic Presidential race by cementing his grip on the front runner status. While Mr. Dean has received yet another setback, the comfort for the Vermonter is that he has managed to get into the second place after finishing third in Iowa. His showing in Iowa coupled with his raucous concession speech appeared to have sealed his political fate.

"I am ready to lead our party to victory", Mr. Kerry has told the Associated Press in an interview. "We were written off for months and plugged on and showed people we have determination", he said. Last December Mr. Kerry was trailing Mr. Dean by about 30 percentage points or more in New Hamsphire and just at the beginning of this month he was behind by 20 percentage points behind the then front runner.

At the end of the day, Mr. Dean argued that the people of New Hampshire have "allowed our campaign to regain its momentum".

But it remains to be seen if the Vermonter does indeed have the personal and financial muscle to carry through the critical swing of seven States that go to the primaries next Tuesday with Missouri being the biggest catch with 74 Democratic delegates.

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