Women and blue-collar towns come through for Clinton

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- This lady certainly didn't have to sing the blues, even though the savvy political pundits claimed she would.

They projected the New Hampshire primary would be a clean sweep for Barack Obama and that Hillary Clinton would be whisked away as a historical footnote.

How could they be so wrong?

As the poll results began to roll in Tuesday night, Clinton showed a slight lead. By the time 23 percent of the precincts had reported, she was at 40 percent and Obama was at 36 percent, and it remained close to that all evening.

She did well in blue-collar, staunch Democratic towns such as Manchester and Nashua, although Obama took more liberal communities, such as Portsmouth.

Women had supported Obama in Iowa, but in New Hampshire, Clinton won 47 percent of the women's vote, compared with 34 percent for Obama.

It means the fight isn't over; it means a big tussle between Clinton and Obama supporters in South Carolina, where 50 percent of Democrats are African-American; it means a serious fight in Nevada, where the labor unions were debating whom to throw their support to.

The Associated Press declared a Clinton victory at 9:40 p.m. Chicago time, and the euphoria among her supporters in the gymnasium at Southern New Hampshire University became palpable. CNN waited for 10 more minutes to declare a Clinton win, but the crowd was already dancing with joy.

Jay Carson, Clinton's press secretary, said Clinton was far more confident than her staff Tuesday morning that she would succeed in New Hampshire. "We knew we had a tough fight coming off a tough loss in Iowa," he said, and the polls showed a large edge for Obama.

"There were no shortage of people declaring us dead ... no matter what happens we've vastly exceeded expectations."

Campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told reporters that as it seemed Clinton was winning, the congratulatory calls came in and promises of more campaign funds were made. McAuliffe told Fox News, "Sure, I was anxious. Saying your guy is going to lose by 15 points would give you a bit of heartburn. This is a big, big deal for Hillary Clinton. It's now a one-on-one race going forward."