Clinton, McCain Cheer New Hampshire Wins

Candidates Plan Next Move

POSTED: 4:34 am PST January 9, 2008

UPDATED: 8:55 am PST January 9, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Fresh from New Hampshire victories, John McCain rallied Wednesday for a Michigan showdown in the most confounding Republican presidential contest in half a century, while Hillary Clinton, buoyant once more, took time to "get grounded" for the grueling races ahead.

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With 96 percent of the New Hampshire vote tabulated before counters shut down for the night, Clinton had 39 percent, Barack Obama 36 percent and John Edwards 17 percent. Bill Richardson trailed with 5 percent.

On the Republican side, McCain had 37 percent, Mitt Romney 32 percent, Mike Huckabee 11 percent, Rudy Giuliani 9 percent and Ron Paul 8 percent. Fred Thompson got 1 percent.

Back home in Chappaqua, N.Y., after a win that surprised her own campaign and shocked nearly everyone else, Clinton considered questions about how to make her next big stand in the Democratic race and whether her organization needed changes. She was able to seek those answers in the first blush of success, instead of the failure that had been anticipated, in the New Hampshire primaries.

Being home, she said Wednesday, "gives me a chance to kind of get grounded and take a deep breath before I go out for the next couple of weeks leading up to the February 5th grand finale of all those states." She was referring to Super Tuesday, when more than 20 states vote.

Before then, Democrat Obama will be bidding for resurgence in South Carolina and Nevada. On Wednesday, he anticipated the endorsement of the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union local in Nevada after collecting the backing of the state's chapter of the Service Employees International Union. He said unpredictability has become the hallmark of the race.

"Anyone who thinks they know how voters are going to respond at this point are probably misleading themselves," the Illinois senator said Wednesday. "And I think voters are not going to let any candidate take anything for granted. They want to lift the hood, kick the tires. They want us to earn it."

McCain campaigned in Michigan, a state he won in 2000. He counted experience, knowledge and judgment as his calling cards in the contests ahead.

"I can throw a dart at a map of the world and show you a place where there's national security challenges," he said on the flight to Grand Rapids. "I'm the only one that's been involved in these issues for the last 20 years."

The Arizona senator staggered Mitt Romney in New Hampshire on Tuesday to vault back to the top ranks of the Republican field. "Nothing quite as invigorating as a win," he said Wednesday.

Romney is considered strong in Michigan, the state where he was born and where his father was governor. Huckabee, winner of the Iowa GOP caucus and third-place finisher in New Hampshire, also is in contention for the Jan. 15 Michigan contest. He flew to South Carolina on Wednesday, eager to capitalize on a polling lead he enjoys there and woo the state's religious conservatives, a bigger bloc of voters than he encountered in New Hampshire.

Clinton attributed her win in part to her success late in the race in telling voters why she's in public life, a reference to her choking up when a voter asked her how she was faring. Asked whether that was a turnaround for her, she said, "I think it could well have been."

McCain did well among New Hampshire's voters concerned with national security and the threat of terrorism. "Those are the themes," he said. "I have the knowledge and experience and judgment."

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