International   

Hillary looks beyond New Hampshire

Manchester (New Hampshire): Senator Hillary Clinton is bracing herself for a second humiliating defeat in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary election, vowing to continue the fight for the Democratic nomination until the conclusive Super Tuesday contest a month from now.

With several new polls charting a deepening collapse in support since her defeat in the Iowa caucuses, Ms. Clinton on Monday insisted she would not drop out of the race even if she loses New Hampshire.

“Whatever happens tomorrow, we’re going on,” she told CBS television. “And we’re going to keep going until the end of the process on February 5. But I’ve always felt that this is going to be a very tough, hard-fought election, and I’m ready for that.”

The other Democratic contender, Barack Obama’s lead over Ms. Clinton now ranges in double digits. A USA Today Gallup poll put his advantage at 13 per cent. According to the poll, his support is 41 per cent, up from 32 per cent in the middle of last month, Ms. Clinton is down to 28 per cent from 32 per cent, and John Edwards is on 19 per cent, up from 18 per cent.

A CNN/WMUR poll, also taken over the weekend, puts Mr. Obama on 39 per cent, Ms. Clinton on 29 per cent and Mr. Edwards on 16 per cent . Ms. Clinton’s campaign has already laid out a contingency plan for defeat. A source in the Hillary camp said she has privately accepted she is going to lose in New Hampshire. She is also resigned to the fact that she may not take South Carolina, which holds its primary on January 26, the source said.

Visibly exhausted, Ms. Clinton was choking back tears during a session at a dinner on Monday when a voter asked her how she kept going. “It’s not easy. It’s not easy. I just don’t want to see us fall backward.” There was a round of applause. “This is very personal for me. It’s not just personal. It’s not just public. I see what’s happening. We have to reverse it.”

But the momentum belonged to Mr. Obama on Monday, as it has since Friday, with the new Democratic frontrunner attracting overflow crowds. “You’re the wave, and I’m riding it,” he told supporters.

The bleak forecast for Ms. Clinton has its parallel on the Republican side, where Mitt Romney is also facing the prospect of a second defeat after Iowa. Mr. Romney has been squaring off against a resurgent campaign by the Arizona Senator John McCain.

For Mr. McCain, the polls were vindication of his decision to shake up his staff and relaunch his campaign after falling in the polls last summer. Mr. McCain won the 2000 primary in New Hampshire against George Bush, and has been nostalgic about that earlier triumph. “I’m certainly pleased,” Mr. McCain told MSNBC. “This is what we wanted to do all along.”

The surge for Mr. McCain has prevented the former Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee from capitalising on his strong showing in the Iowa caucus. Unlike in Iowa, where Evangelical Christians make up a significant portion of Republican caucus-goers, social conservatives are not an important force in New Hampshire.

Ms. Clinton spent Monday trying to drive home the message first aired in the weekend debates that Americans need to look beyond Mr. Obama’s evident talent as a speaker, and examine his record.

“All of a sudden you start to ask yourself, ‘Wait a minute. I mean, what is the substance here?”’ she told ABC television. “What, as famously was said years ago, ‘where’s the beef?’ You know, where is the reality?” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Bilawal warns against flawed elections
“Make India permanent U.N. member”
Someone fired at Benazir: Dy.SP
Israel alleges attacks ahead of Bush visit
Lethal injections challenged
Hillary looks beyond New Hampshire
Attempt on Gayoom’s life
Four Bangladesh advisers resign
Youth convicted under U.K. terror Act
Abdullah, Antony see momentum in defence ties as positive development

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu