Clinton Escapes to Fight Another Day: "Solid support" from registered Dems, women

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT, pg1: News Analysis
Clinton Escapes to Fight Another Day
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Hillary Rodham Clinton is back.

With solid support from registered Democrats and the backing of women, who deserted her in Iowa, Senator Clinton beat Senator Barack Obama of Illinois with a margin that — if not particularly wide — was enough for her campaign to claim a resounding victory. The political intensity of her victory was magnified by a weekend of polls and rapturous packed rallies for Mr. Obama that suggested Mrs. Clinton was in dire shape, particularly after Mr. Obama’s drubbing of her in Iowa.

Mrs. Clinton won in a state that has always had a warm spot for the Clinton family. There was no end to the comparisons to how New Hampshire saved Bill Clinton’s campaign in 1992, when he too seemed on the verge of defeat. (In that case, though, Mr. Clinton declared victory after coming in second with 25 percent after being as low as 19 percent in polls.)

Political theatrics aside, there were lessons from her victory on Tuesday that could prove instructive as Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama head into this new phase of the campaign, with 25 states voting in the next four weeks. “So we’re going to take what we’ve learned here in New Hampshire and we’re going to rally on and make our case,” Mrs. Clinton said.

Mrs. Clinton solidified her position with Democrats, while Mr. Obama enjoyed support from independent voters, as he did in Iowa. But many of the states where the Democrats are heading allow only Democrats to vote in their party’s primary. In New Hampshire, more voters viewed her as qualified to be commander in chief than said Mr. Obama was ready for that role, suggesting that Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she was more experienced to lead might have had traction here.

Most strikingly for Mrs. Clinton, women in New Hampshire did what they did not do in Iowa: rally behind her. Women supported her by 47 percent to 34 percent, according to a survey of voters leaving the polls; women voters in Iowa had been evenly divided between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/us/politics/09assess.html?ref=todayspaper

[aquart]

1. New rule, boys: picking on women does NOT get votes.

It does, however, cause questions about the competence of your mothers.