What the media and nearly everyone else missed about NH was that it was a clear victory for Democrats.
497,883 total votes
282,334 Democrat (57%)
215,549 Republican (43%)
Vote talleys from NYT
You may say it's irrelevant since it's not the general election, but it's a clear signal that the Democratic Party message is well-received. And, as many others have pointed out, 497,883 total votes (almost twice prior record turn-out) is a huge victory for Democracy in general.
Standings regardless of party:
- Hillary Rodham Clinton 110,550
- Barack Obama 102,883
- John McCain 86,802
- Mitt Romney 73,806
- John Edwards 47,803
- Mike Huckabee 26,035
- Rudolph W. Giuliani 20,054
- Ron Paul 17,831
- Bill Richardson 12,987
- Others-R 4,783
- Dennis J. Kucinich 3,845
- Others-D 3,058
- Fred D. Thompson 2,808
- Duncan Hunter 1,195
- Joseph R. Biden Jr. 616
- Mike Gravel 397
- Christopher J. Dodd 195
- Tom Tancredo 66
The top two Democrats garnered 43% of the total votes, top two Republicans only 32%. The third and forth placed Republican candidates combined got fewer votes than the third place Democrat.
I thought Ron Paul might do better than Guiliani. People I talk to really like Paul's message of restoring the Constitution. But my predictions were generally off, since like most I predicted a solid Obama win.
Arguably, those who place lower than write-in candidates should probably drop out. But I prefer a larger field for February 5, so my vote (MA) won't be totally irrelevant as it usually is.