Voters in New Hampshire cast their ballots in the first formal primary for Democrats and Republicans, handing victories to Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump respectively. Both candidates had significant winning margins over their nearest rivals — perhaps not so surprising for Trump, certainly so for Sanders.
Trump’s emphatic victory of 15 percentage points in the Republican race shows that mostly angry, white men are being heard loud and clear at a time when moderate voices in that party are largely silent, and certainly spread over the plethora of candidates filling the field.
In last week’s Iowa caucuses, moderate Marco Rubio came in a respectable third behind Ted Cruz and Trump. That was a showing that set him up to benefit in New Hampshire. That he tripped so badly in last week’s televised debate at the words of New Jersey’s Chris Christie meant that another moderate John Kasich, finished second.
The conundrum now for mainstream Republicans is to figure out quickly, just who is best from the trio of Rubio, Kasich and Christie to serve as a moderate candidate, one who can put a stop to the right-wing anger and rage as articulated by Trump and Cruz. Should that not happen soon, and with Trump and Cruz now having the right to claim that they have the all-important momentum heading into the next big rounds of votes in early March, at best, Republicans will be left with a right-wing demagogue and, far worse, Americans may be in a position to elect a president spurred on by racial and religious bigotry.
As far as Democrats are concerned, Sanders was always the front-runner in New Hampshire. Being the senior Senator from the neighbouring New England state of Vermont, Sanders has a high profile in New Hampshire, is popular, and has a good machine on the ground to capitalise on his support.
But given that Sanders handed Hillary Clinton a defeat of some 20 percentage points, the result is nothing less than a blunt and clear warning that the former secretary of state is facing a long and tough road for the Democratic nomination.
After New Hampshire, Clinton cannot discount that the outcome in 2016 could very well be the same as in 2008. Yes, she has name recognition, she also has history, and the fallout from her email scandal and the aftermath of the attacks on the US embassy in Libya are now taking their toll.
