US Presidential candidate
Barack Obama waves to supporters as he leaves an election rally in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, January 4, 2008. Obama, campaigning for
the January 8 New Hampshire Primary, won the Iowa Caucus January 3.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
As campaign volunteers disappear from the streets and
candidates' posters come off the walls in Iowa, New Hampshire
becomes the second heated battlefield in which the 2008
presidential contenders will further their leads or fight for
survival in the January 8 primary.
The first bout in the Iowa caucuses on Thursday has left the
following primaries and caucuses more uncertain, with Illinois
Senator Barack Obama leading the Democrats with 38 percent and
former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee topping the Republican list
with 34 percent.
New York Senator Hillary Clinton slipped to third place, losing
only one percentage point to former North Carolina Senator John
Edwards, but nine percent behind Obama.
Democratic presidential
candidate Senator Hillary Clinton campaigns during a rally in
Nashua, New Hampshire, January 4, 2008.?(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)?
Claiming to have her eyes on "a long run," the former First Lady
flew to New Hampshire for an early morning rally on Friday,
followed by five more speeches statewide over the next three
days.
Former President Bill Clinton will also be seen at five events
to boost support for his wife. The self-dubbed "Comeback Kid," who
won New Hampshire after a defeat in Iowa in his 1992 campaign,
still remains popular in the northeastern state.
In an attempt to solidify his at-least-second place, Edwards
courted New Hampshire Democratic voters with his underdog
background in an early morning rally to downplay his well-funded
rivals, Obama and Clinton.
"I am not the candidate of money, I am not the candidate of
glitz, I am not the candidate of glamour. Nor do I claim to be," he
said.
Analysts said the joy brought by the surprising victory over
Clinton in Iowa will be blown away if Edwards remains in third
place in the New Hampshire primaries as the latest polls show.
Apart from Obama's rise and Clinton's "comeback," he was also
grounded by limited funds and other resources, which is a key
factor determining how far he can still go.
Obama's triumph proved the viability of his "stand for change"
and "one America" messages, which he brought to New Hampshire on
Friday morning to increase turnout and mobilize the young voters
that Obama's campaign counts on to repeat the sweep.
"I really think that the country is interested not just in
change in the abstract but in the very specific kind of change
which involves them getting involved, paying attention, holding
their elected officials accountable," Obama told reporters during
the flight to New Hampshire.
For the Republican camp, an all-sided game is just at curtain-up
as former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been the No. 1 in
the national poll, joined the campaign in New Hampshire.
Driven by a "big-state" strategy, he largely skipped Iowa,
ending in sixth place in its Republican caucuses, and is focusing
on states including New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.
Arizona Senator John McCain, who also spent little time in Iowa,
is confident in another shot after he won the New Hampshire
primaries eight years ago. "We will win," he told reporters on
Thursday night in the state. "I'm very confident we can."
Huckabee, who basked in the overwhelming support from
evangelical Christians in Iowa caucuses, is facing challenges in
New Hampshire where his background as a Baptist minister is not
seen as such a selling point, leaving it open for former
Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to overtake him.
"I think anybody's got to come in first or second in New
Hampshire," the Romney, a Mormon, told NBC. "I'm hoping to get one
of those two tickets out of New Hampshire."
According to a poll by Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby released on Friday,
Clinton leads the New Hampshire primaries with 32 percent, followed
by Obama with 26 percent and Edwards with 20 percent. Among
Republicans, McCain takes the first place with 34 percent, four
percentage points more than Romney. Huckabee was ranked third with
10 percent.
However, the poll was taken before the Iowa caucuses, leaving it
open to change as New Hampshire voters reconsider their
support.
US Democratic presidential
candidate and former Senator John Edwards greets supporters at an
Iowa caucus night rally in Des Moines, Iowa, January 3, 2008.
Edwards, fresh off a surprise second-place showing in Iowa, touted
his underdog status on Friday as he sought to challenge his
better-financed rivals in New Hampshire.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2008)
