Three tickets out: Amy, Pete ride on
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Bernie Sanders emerged from New Hampshire as the clear progressive choice for Democrats while Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar earned tickets to move on, fighting to become the leading moderate in the race.
Granite State voters winnowed the field and dealt potentially fatal blows to Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, both of whom are now on life support just to keep their candidacies afloat in the days ahead.
Sanders, with his narrow New Hampshire victory, ran strong among young voters and destroyed Warren among liberals, according to exit polls. It wasn’t the kind of decisive win he enjoyed in 2016 but it was enough to allow him to exit the state triumphant.
“This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump,” Sanders told a throng of supporters in Manchester. “We’re going to Nevada. We’re going to South Carolina. We’re going to win those states, too.”
But he faces what’s likely to be increased scrutiny, a big-pocketed billionaire and more diverse states as he fights to become the clear front-runner.
Mike Bloomberg awaits all the Democratic rivals on Super Tuesday, flush with cash and a moderate message that could resonate in some bigger states. He was one of the big winners of the New Hampshire primary, because of Biden’s devastating loss.
Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor, will move on from New Hampshire but needs to expand his support as the contest moves on to more diverse states like Nevada and South Carolina.
“We are here to stay,” Buttigieg told supporters in Nashua.
Klobuchar, running a strong third here, was easily the most energized candidate in the field this week, keeping a hectic schedule after her surprisingly strong debate performance last week.
“We have beaten the odds every step of the way,” she told cheering supporters Tuesday night.
She’s reportedly expanding staff for the next contests in Nevada and South Carolina in the wake of her third-place showing in New Hampshire.
Klobuchar is also the leading woman in the race now, supplanting Warren.
“New Hampshire, because of you we are taking this campaign to Nevada. We are going to South Carolina and we are taking this message of unity to the country,” Klobuchar said at her rally in Concord.
Warren likes to say she has a “plan for that” but her campaign didn’t plan on getting thumped so badly in neighboring New Hampshire.
Advisers say she will battle on through Super Tuesday, where she has organizations in many states, but it will be extremely difficult for her to launch a comeback. Projections showed her failing to win a single delegate in New Hampshire.
Warren on Tuesday night criticized her opponents for engaging in negative attacks, and said she can unify the party.
Biden fled the state early and landed in South Carolina just as polls were closing here, bailing on his dwindling supporters who had gathered for a “victory” rally.
The New Hampshire primary was mostly a low energy affair, with few dramatic moments in the week leading up to the voting. There was no Hillary Clinton crying moment like in 2008, or an Edmund Muskie teary tirade like in 1972.