US: Campaigning in the New Hampshire primary went on right to the end. Until polling closed, the outcome of the Democratic primary in "the Granite State" was never written in stone. Ian Kilroy reports from Manchester.
Until polling closed, the outcome of the Democratic primary in "the Granite State" was never written in stone. Yesterday in Manchester, New Hampshire, everyone knew that today's verdict was still up for grabs. New Hampshire, after all, is a stubbornly independent-minded state. It has often confounded pollsters in the past.
Such thoughts warmed the hopes of the Howard Dean faithful, as they pushed to get the vote out on a mercilessly cold New England day. That approximately 16 per cent of voters in the country's first primary were undecided by polling day added to their optimism. Maybe Mr Dean could pull this off.
However, early exit polls last night were showing Senator John Kerry in the lead with 36 per cent and Mr Dean in second place with 31 per cent.
The propect of Mr Dean coming second was far from the mind of Ms Emily Robinson, who had also just cast her vote for the former governor of Vermont, said the Dean lobby was pushing. "People have been out knocking on doors, making phone calls, rallying the vote," she said.
The rebound in the polls enjoyed by Mr Dean in the latter days of the New Hampshire race offered solace to the faithful. So did Bill Clinton's 1992 precedent. He failed to win New Hampshire in 1992 but went on to be president.
John Kerry supporters, however, were still glowing from this week's Newsweek survey, which showed their candidate could beat Bush if the election were held this week. This warm aura of "electability" was almost enough to ward off frostbite for Mr Kerry supporters, as temperatures dipped well below freezing.
Mr Dave Nixon, former president of the New Hampshire Senate, confirmed that "electability was a factor in my voting for Kerry". Mr Nixon had cast his vote for Mr Kerry because "he's got experience fighting for good causes, he's articulate".
Someone else with a legitimate war record is former general Mr Wesley Clark. Across from the Carol Rimes Centre polling station, on Elm Street in Manchester, he sat in the warmth of Pappy's Pizza restaurant, giving an interview to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. For Democrat and retired Navy man Mr Denis Turpin, Mr Clark was his favoured choice to face George Bush.
"Clark's an army man. He knows what he's talking about," said Mr Turpin, alluding to the hot issue of national security.
Mr Clark was on a final blitzkrieg tour of the state, trying to secure every possible vote. The fact that an 11-th hour Boston Globe/WBZ-TV tracking poll only gave him 8 per cent of the vote must have motivated him to work hard. That poll put Mr Clark in fourth place, with Lieberman behind him - while Kerry's 37 per cent, Dean's 20 per cent and Edwards' 12 per cent hung like bad omens over Clark's final push.
But all the other ever-hopeful candidates continued to brave the elements in a final effort, as polling day advanced and they attempted to gain an edge. What Mr Dean in Concord, Mr Kerry in Manchester, and Mr Edwards and Mr Lieberman elsewhere in New Hampshire knew was that this was going to be a tight race.
Results from New Hampshire will be available as they come in throughout today on The Irish Times Breaking News service at: www.ireland.com