Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls were in New Hampshire Friday gearing up for what is turning out to be one of the most closely-watched primaries the state has seen in years.
On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee hopes to repeat his Iowa caucuses win when New Hampshire residents cast their votes in less than five days. He'll face a tough challenge from rival John McCain. It's no less competitive on the Democratic side where Barack Obama's rivals redoubled their attacks against the young senator after his big victory in Iowa the night before.
Obama swept the Iowa caucuses with a convincing win over his main rival and former front-runner, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. She has a big war chest and strong organization, so will likely continue her campaign regardless of what happens in New Hampshire. But Political pundits say she'll need to have a strong showing if she wants to remain competitive in primaries down the road. On Friday, she went on the offensive against the new Democratic front-runner.
"It's hard to know exactly where he stands, and people need to ask that," Clinton said of Obama, who is serving his first term as senator for Illinois.
Obama won 38 per cent of the votes in Iowa, compared to 30 per cent for John Edwards and 29 per cent for third-place Clinton.
"They said this day would never come," Obama, surrounded by cheering supporters, declared Thursday night.
"They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together... But on this January night at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do."
On Friday, Obama said he saw no reason to revamp his campaign for the vastly different political atmosphere of New Hampshire: "No, it's not broken, why fix it?"
Clinton, on the other hand, changed her campaign Friday by dispensing with much of her lengthy campaign stump speech and promising to answer as many voter questions as possible.
"I want to know from all of you ... what do you want to know about us?" she asked a rally at a Nashua N.H. airport hangar.
Meanwhile, Huckabee, vowed to stick to his tax plan as he tries to woo New Hampshire Republicans. The former Baptist preacher-turned politician asserted that his campaign is about much more than the Christian conservatives who lifted him in Iowa.
"What we're seeing is that this campaign is not just about people who have religious fervor," he told morning talk shows Friday. "It's about people who love America, but want it to be better and believe that change is necessary."
Huckabee defeated former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in Iowa, finishing with 34 per cent of the vote, ahead of Romney's 26 per cent.
Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson tied at 13 per cent, with Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 10 per cent. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who ignored Iowa and plans to jumpstart his campaign in Florida's Jan. 29 primary, finished in sixth place.
Although Romney outspent Huckabee by about US$20 to $1, Huckabee had the support of more than half of Republican voters in Iowa who said in entrance polls they were either born-again or evangelical Christians.
Romney said despite the loss, he was satisfied with the gains he made in the polls.
"I've been pleased that I've been able to make up ground and I intend to keep making up ground, not just here but across the country," he said. Although, he is hoping to win in New Hampshire, his campaign will likely continue even if he doesn't place in the top spot. Like Clinton, he has a strong campaign organization and lots of money.
Fight for presidency far from over
As the next leg of what will be the longest U.S. presidential campaign ever begins, Clinton is now hoping to win over the state that revived her husband Bill's run for the Democratic nomination in 1992. Her campaign manager says the fight for presidency was far from over.
"This race begins tonight and ends when Democrats throughout America have their say," Patti Solis Doyle told The Associated Press. "Our campaign was built for a marathon and we have the resources to run a national race in the weeks ahead."
Political pundits say Obama's win in an overwhelmingly white state is a great triumph as he tries to become the first African-American president of the United States.
Now, the dynamic of the race has shifted for Clinton who also hopes to make her mark by being the first female president of the U.S., says CTV Washington bureau chief Tom Clark.
"You don't want to overestimate the importance of the Iowa vote; after all, this isn't even a primary," Clark commented to Canada AM Friday.
"But the message that it sends out for the rest of the primary season is the important one. And that is that Clinton, who just a couple of months ago was being called the inevitable winner of the whole Democratic contest, is now wounded and vulnerable."
Clark adds that the Republican race is still wide open but the Iowa caucuses provided some telling revelations.
"I think that the really interesting number last night was John McCain. He had to be a strong No. 3. He was a strong No. 3. He is set up perfectly now for New Hampshire, where he has some real strength and a real opportunity to win the first primary."
With files from The Associated Press and reports from CTV's Tom Clark
