Clinton's Campaign in N.H. Touched Chord With Women

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Clinton Savors N.H. Win

Sen. Hillary Clinton says she made an incredible connection with New Hampshire voters and she's ready to keep her campaign rolling forward.

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"It was entertaining and a powerful speech, but I didn't get a lot of substance. I like to know how he's going to accomplish it all," said Alexis Jackson, who works for the White Mountain National Forest. "How is he going to create jobs? How's he going to get the troops home? Where's the money coming from?"

Another woman, Beverly Melle, said she was impressed by Obama but had a nagging feeling throughout that he was slightly condescending to his audience, with his lighthearted quips about gender relations and the emphasis on Oprah's presence.

"Oprah was a deterrent. It didn't sway me," said Melle, a staunch Democrat who lives in Amherst, N.H. "I felt that somehow he was giving too much acknowledgment to the fact that Oprah was there. It was a distraction."

Another factor may have been Clinton campaign mailers sent out over the weekend hinting that Obama was less than committed to abortion rights. According to the flier, he was "unwilling to take a stand on choice," a slam at "present" votes he registered as an Illinois state senator, first in 1997 on two measures that would have banned the procedure sometimes called partial-birth abortion, then in 2001 on two measures that would have required parental notification before a minor could receive an abortion.

The Illinois Planned Parenthood Council rose to Obama's defense, saying Illinois lawmakers were encouraged to vote "present" on the bills in hopes that moderate Republicans would do the same, thereby defeating the measures.

"It was not only untrue, but I think it may have been a factor" in Obama's defeat, said Rep. Paul W. Hodes (N.H.), an Obama supporter.

But other state Democrats said such tricks could not compare to the shoe leather left on the pavement by Clinton's army of 4,000 volunteers, who knocked on 105,000 New Hampshire doors. State Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley told of one Granite State woman who had no intention of voting, but after the third visitor at her door Tuesday, she dragged herself to the polls.

Clinton's ground game was fortified heavily by troops from out of state that matched, if not surpassed, the wave of help Obama was getting from outside New Hampshire. In Obama's case, it consisted of a lot of college students plus hundreds of older Obama admirers coming on their own to help any way they could. In Clinton's case, it was a more veteran crew: members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, foot soldiers of the Democratic machine in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, and old Clinton operatives from Washington. Boston Mayor Tom Menino sent 200 people. Overall, the campaign estimated that it had nearly 2,000 out-of-state volunteers.

Last Friday, Buckley recalled putting out urgent calls to the Obama and Clinton campaigns, seeking to fill 100 or so empty seats at the state party dinner that night. The Obama campaign quickly obliged, filling the 100 Club dinner in Milford with chanting supporters.

Clinton campaign officials told Buckley they had more pressing concerns. Their people were needed in campaign headquarters, where they were putting the final touches on what was to become a massive voter-mobilization drive.

The television images and press coverage of that Friday night spoke volumes about the surprise outcome of the New Hampshire Democratic primary. The cheering Obama crowd gave the impression that a wave sweeping out of Iowa was bearing down on the Granite State, but left unseen was the ground war being waged by Clinton.

"The reports out of that dinner were so positive for Barack Obama, it looked like a major mistake on the part of the Clintons," said Buckley, who stayed neutral during the campaign. "But those get-out-the-vote operations in the end clearly favored the Clinton campaign."

MacGillis reported from New Hampshire. Staff writers Shailagh Murray and Joel Achenbach contributed to this report from New Hampshire.