NASHUA, N.H. (Jan.8) — His vibrant call for “change” wasn’t enough for voters to give Sen. Barack Obama the Democratic presidential nomination in the New Hampshire Primary on Tuesday.
Obama, senator from Illinois, finished second in a duel with Hillary Clinton that had the two candidates neck-and-neck after polls closed at 7 p.m.
At close to 11 p.m., Obama finally conceded defeat. “I want to congratulate Senator on a hard fought victory,” Obama told his crowd of supporters. He reminded those who voted for him to not be deterred by the results and to look to the future. “A few weeks ago, no one imagined we’d accomplish what we’ve done,” he said.
Even with the second place finish, Obama said he would keep his promise of change. “When I am president of the United States, we will end this war,” he said.
Obama earned 37 percent of the vote, falling behind Clinton’s 39 percent. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards took third in the race, with 17 percent of votes.
Clinton led by a slight margin the entire night, unlike in Iowa where she fell short to Obama and Edwards last week. Obama secured the win in the Iowa Caucus on Jan. 3, earning 38 percent of votes. John Edwards came in second with 30 percent of votes. Hillary Clinton took third place with 29 percent of votes.
In New Hampshire, all three candidates began intense campaigning on the weekend before the primary. Undecided independent voters were to determine the outcome of the election.
A The next primary is in South Carolina on Jan. 26, followed by Florida. African-Americans make up more than 50 percent of the population in South Carolina, but it doesn’t mean an automatic win for Obama. Clinton attracts many African-American voters as well.
At Nashua High School Tuesday night in New Hampshire, the atmosphere was nail-bitingly tense as supporters of Obama watched the tight races on a projector screen. The chants of the crowd died down as 60 percent of the votes were tallied at 10:25 p.m.
When Obama walked in the gymnasium with U2’s “City of Blinding Lights,” the crowd gave rousing chants: “O-BA-MA!”
At the polls earlier Tuesday, interviews with voters also showed signs of confidence that Obama would take the Democratic seat.
“I think Obama is going to win because a lot young people are endorsing him,” said John Knieriem at the Brookside Congregational Church. Obama is popular among youth, he said, because he is a fresh candidate.
“I think because all their lives they’ve always have a Bush or a Clinton in office. I don’t think they want another Clinton,” he said.
Other young voters such as Kevin Finefrock, 22, also predicted a win for Obama. “He is much younger than other candidates and I identify with him because he is closer to my generation. He looks at change and toward the future,” he said.
But some voters expressed skepticism. “Obama is inspirational, but he’s not saying much. It’s all charisma,” said Jen Shaffer, 24. “I don’t think he has the experience to back it up.”
(Koren Temple, a magazine-newspaper-online journalism graduate student, is covering the New Hampshire primaries for Campaigns&Elections magazine.)
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