Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are preparing for a tough, month-long battle for the Democratic presidential nomination after Ms Clinton won the New Hampshire primary in one of the most dramatic upsets in US political history.
Ms Clinton returned to her home in upstate New York yesterday to regroup in advance of next week's caucus in Nevada and a primary in South Carolina a week later. With campaign contributions flooding in after she overturned Mr Obama's double-digit poll lead in New Hampshire to win by three percentage points, the former first lady is confident she can halt the rise of the charismatic Illinois senator.
"Over the last week, I listened to you and, in the process, I found my own voice. I felt like we all spoke from our hearts and I am so gratified that you responded. Now, together, let's give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me," Ms Clinton told cheering supporters in Manchester on Tuesday night.
Stung by his surprise defeat, Mr Obama said yesterday he was ready to respond to attacks from the Clinton campaign, which questioned the consistency of his record and suggested he is all rhetoric.
"I think that Senator Clinton is a formidable and tough candidate, and we have to make sure that we take it to them just like they take it to us. I come from Chicago politics. We're accustomed to rough and tumble," he said.
Mr Obama got a boost yesterday when the 60,000-member Culinary Workers' Union in Nevada and the state's chapter of the Service Employees International Union endorsed him. Ms Clinton is still ahead in most polls in Nevada but Mr Obama has opened up a clear lead in South Carolina, where up to half of likely Democratic voters are African-American.
Ms Clinton owed her surprise win in New Hampshire to the support of record numbers of women voters, particularly those over 40. She said she believed many women warmed to her after an emotional display on Monday when she came close to tears as she spoke about the stress of the campaign and her motivation for seeking the presidency.
"For all the ups and downs of this campaign, you helped remind everyone that politics isn't a game. This campaign is about people, about making a difference in your lives, about making sure that everyone in this country has the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential. That has been the work of my life," Ms Clinton said.
New Hampshire Senate president Sylvia Larsen told The Irish Times she believed the result reflected the pragmatism of the state's voters and a class division among the candidates' supporters.
"I think she really reached working New Hampshire voters. There was the intellectual group that was really thinking that they could win by uplifting spirits, but you've got to be able to make the change happen, not just lift the spirits," she said.
The Republican race also saw a sharp reversal of fortune as John McCain, whose campaign all but collapsed last summer, defeated former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who had spent millions from his own fortune on the New Hampshire campaign.
"I'm past the age that I can claim the noun 'kid', no matter what adjective precedes it. But tonight we sure showed them what a comeback looks like," Mr McCain told supporters in Nashua. The Republican race is wide open after New Hampshire and Mr Romney said yesterday he will fight until February 5th. He is hoping to win next week in Michigan, where he grew up and where his father was governor.
Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucus, came third in New Hampshire but hopes to win South Carolina, where evangelical Christians respond well to his socially conservative message. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is ignoring the early contests, hoping for his first win in Florida at the end of this month.