With Echoes of Clinton '92, Another 'Comeback Kid'

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Post's Balz on New Hampshire Primary Surprise

The Washington Post's Dan Balz talks about the New Hampshire primary and the story of two comebacks.

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Clinton has enjoyed the edge in endorsements, but since Iowa, Obama had lined up support from leading politicians in some of the Feb. 5 states. "There's a lot more interest today than a week ago," an Obama adviser said a few hours before the polls closed here.

Some of those elected officials had been holding back to see how the race developed. Whether they will continue to wait as a result of Tuesday's close race was not immediately clear.

Obama's campaign has said for weeks that it has been preparing for a nomination battle stretching at least until Feb. 5. Campaign manager David Plouffe said Tuesday that the campaign already has staff members and organizations in 19 of the 22 states and will soon have staff members in the other three.

"We have the financial and organizational capacity to do that," he said. "We're not in a situation where we're picking and choosing states. We're ready for all of them. . . . We want as much Obama blue on the map that night as possible."

Clinton's goal now is to win a delegate war with Obama. She hopes to combine the delegates earned in the Feb. 5 contests with support from "super delegates" -- party officials with automatic votes at this summer's national convention in Denver -- to emerge from those contests with the advantage over Obama.

The next state on the calendar is Nevada, which will hold caucuses on Jan. 19. Obama has anticipated winning the endorsement of the Culinary Workers union, which would mean a big boost in the low-turnout event.

Clinton's team had long seen Nevada as friendly territory, but after Iowa it was reassessing its prospects there. It was not clear whether the campaign would make an all-out effort there.

Clinton's advisers were far gloomier about South Carolina, fearing that Obama's victory in Iowa and the energy surrounding his campaign would consolidate the black vote behind him. In a three-way race that includes former senator John Edwards (N.C.), the Clinton camp concluded that South Carolina might be a lost cause.

But begging off a fight in the first state with a substantial black population might be difficult for Clinton, given the long and close relationship that she and her husband have had with the African American community.

"They will have to take a new and closer look at Nevada and South Carolina," said Democratic strategist Anita Dunn.

Clinton's victory provided a real-time reminder that this Democratic race may have more surprises ahead. Weeks or months ago, it was Clinton who had been anointed as the inevitable nominee. Then after Obama's victory in Iowa five nights ago, he was being fitted for the nomination crown.

But presidential campaigns rarely end this quickly, and it was as if the voters of New Hampshire on Tuesday were divided enough in their choice of candidates to assure that voters elsewhere will have the opportunity to settle the issue.

"I think it's awfully interesting that they made her the underdog and she came back," said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. "Obviously, a lot of these voters don't want to close down the process. It's like, 'Wait a minute.' "

Long before the polls closed, pollster Hart offered an unexpectedly prophetic word of caution about the unexpected twists that often define presidential politics.

"Everybody keeps thinking we've now hit the straightaway," he said, referring to commentary about the momentum building behind Obama. "What I say is, this is a presidential election with only hairpin turns."