Ron Klain has a great article in the Times this morning.
I especially feel good about the conclusion:
From the NY Times
A 60,000-Vote Differential
Still, as signs go, it is an encouraging one for Democrats. And if there was a surprise in last night’s totals, it wasn’t that the Republican and Democratic participation levels were similar, but that – for the first time ever in a simultaneously contested New Hampshire primary – the Democrats had so many more voters.
This is huge and I hope the trend continues through November.
By Ron Klain
Some observers, including David Brooks , have looked at the New Hampshire primary results and concluded that "roughly equal" numbers of votes were recorded in the Republican and Democratic primaries. But I see a huge difference in the numbers — differences of historical significance, in fact. The four Democratic candidates last night drew about 270,000 votes between them, while the larger G.O.P. field drew about 210,000, or about 60,000 more votes for the Democrats than the Republicans. Maybe this sounds like a small difference to some, but given that fewer than 700,000 New Hampshirites voted in the last general election for president, a 60,000-vote differential in that small state is quite significant. And even this relative measure fails to capture what a historic night it was for Democrats in New Hampshire. In the three decades since 1980, there have been four primary years when both the G.O.P. and the Democratic nominations were contested – 1988, 1992, 2000 and 2008. In all three of the previous elections, there were more votes cast in the Republican primaries than in the Democratic primaries. The G.O.P. margin was almost 40,000 votes in 1988 and almost 80,000 votes in 2000. So to see more votes cast in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary last night than in the state’s Republican one — not to mention 60,000 more votes — is almost as historic as seeing a one-two finish by a woman and an African-American.
Go read the whole Op-Ed at the NY Times