Le New Hampshire fut riche en surprise pour peu que l'on place quelques jours en arrière. Qu'il s'agisse de Hillary Clinton ou de John McCain, ils avaient, à leur manière, pris un train de retard dans la course à l'investiture. USA Today fait le point du côté républicain.
The chant at John McCain's election night headquarters said it all: "Mac Is Back! Mac Is Back! Mac Is Back!"
Left for dead after a staff shake-up in the summer, McCain retook New Hampshire with tactics he used to beat George W. Bush here eight years ago — re-emerging as a major contender for the Republican nomination.
"Republicans will look around and realize he is the best bet to beat the Democratic nominee," McCain aide Mark McKinnon said.
The Vietnam POW re-boarded his "Straight Talk Express" and banked heavily on the independent-minded voters of New Hampshire to reinvigorate a campaign crippled by a lack of campaign funds. He even guaranteed a victory here as the primary neared.
By contrast, Mitt Romney, the ex-governor of neighboring Massachusetts who stressed his business experience, downplayed expectations hours before the polls closed.
"I know that at the end of the night, almost certainly, I will have received more votes for president than anyone else on the Republican side," added Romney, who finished second in Iowa but took the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who beat Romney in Iowa, was battling for third place in New Hampshire along with Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul.
McCain won New Hampshire by reviving echoes of his 2000 campaign with a "Mac is back" tour aboard the "Straight Talk Express" campaign bus and more than 100 town hall meetings that often featured colorful exchanges. When an undecided voter told him over the weekend he was in political "purgatory," McCain said: "It's a step up from where I was last summer."
The Arizonan again sought support from political independents who are eligible to vote in either primary in New Hampshire.
In this campaign, however, McCain spent more time discussing his experiences as a Vietnam prisoner of war. He also emphasized his Senate work on national security issues, particularly the Iraq war. He voiced support for last year's troop increase in Iraq, and took credit for influencing that strategy.
Susan Larivee, 40, an accounting assistant from Nashua, said she recently decided on McCain, calling his military experience "very important."
"He has integrity," Larivee said. "I think he's less of a politician."
The Associated Press and the television networks conducted surveys of voters as they left polling places that showed McCain won among Republican voters who regard the war as their top issue and among those who disapproved of the war.
McCain topped Romney and the rest of the Republican field among both men and women; he also prevailed among most age groups, though Romney did best among voters 65 and older. McCain also won among most of the income categories, except for Romney's edge among voters who said they make $150,000-$199,999 a year.
Romney tried to use McCain's experience against him, calling the veteran senator a Washington insider who is too much a part of a "broken" political system.
Romney, a former venture capitalist and Olympics organizer, said his business background would help him address such challenges as health care, education and developing sources of energy.
The survey of voters showed that Romney won easily among those whose major issue was illegal immigration, an issue on which he accused McCain of favoring an "amnesty" policy.
Huckabee, the winner in Iowa, in early returns was on pace to finish a distant third in New Hampshire.
Senior adviser Charmaine Yoest said Huckabee's showings in New Hampshire and Michigan would demonstrate the national appeal of the former Arkansas governor. "We think the polling data that shows our lead widening in South Carolina speaks pretty clearly about our chances there," she added.
Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, is looking ahead to the Florida primary on Jan. 29, and to New York, California and other big states a week later.
"This is just the beginning," Giuliani said at his campaign headquarters in Manchester shortly after McCain was declared the winner. "Think of it as a kickoff. This is the kickoff of what's going to be a very long and very tough game."
Giuliani expressed confidence that he would prevail in the fight for the nomination. "Maybe we've lulled our opponents into a false sense of confidence now," he said.
Like Huckabee, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson is aiming at South Carolina. "It's all been about getting to South Carolina and then going from there," Thompson said on CNN, adding that on Feb. 5, "there are a lot of Southern, Western states" that are voting.
Romney's personal wealth gives him a financial edge over his opponents. He has spent $24.1 million on television advertising since February, according to Evan Tracey of TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG. He is now on the air in Michigan, South Carolina and Florida.
McCain spent the second-highest amount among Republicans, $4.1 million. He is now running ads in Michigan and South Carolina.
Among the other candidates and their spending: Giuliani ($3.1 million), Huckabee ($2.1 million), Paul ($2.1 million), and Thompson ($2 million).
