Resounding wins for Sanders, Trump rattle establishment
Donald J. Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont harnessed working-class fury on Tuesday to surge to commanding victories in a New Hampshire primary that drew huge turnout across the state. The success by two outsider candidates dealt a remarkable rebuke to the political establishment, and all but guaranteed protracted, bruising races for each party’s nomination.
Trump, the wealthy businessman whose blunt language and outsider image have electrified many Republicans and horrified others, benefited from an unusually large field of candidates that split the vote among traditional politicians like Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who finished second, and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.
But Trump also tapped into a deep well of anxiety among Republicans and independents in New Hampshire, according to exit polling data, and he ran strongest among voters who were worried about illegal immigrants, incipient economic turmoil and the threat of a terrorist attack in the United States.
With more than 80 percent of the precincts reporting, Trump had received 35 percent of the vote, and Sanders approached 60 percent.
The win for Sanders amounted to a powerful and pain-
ful rejection of Hillary Clinton, who has deep history with New Hampshire voters and offered policy ideas that seemed to reflect the moderate politics of the state. But Sanders, who has proposed an emphatically liberal agenda to raise taxes and impose regulations on Wall Street, drew support from a wide cross section of people — even edging Clinton out among female voters, boosted by his appeal among the young.
At his victory party, Sanders, flashing a wide, toothy grin, pointed to the large voter turnout as evidence that only he could energize the Democratic electorate to defeat the Republicans in November.
“Together we have sent a message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California,” Sanders said. “And that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of the people, and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their super PACs.”
While Sanders led New Hampshire polls for the last month, and Trump was ahead here since July, the wave of support for both men was nonetheless stunning to leaders of both parties who believed that in the end, voters would embrace more experienced candidates like Clinton or one of the Republican governors in the race. Yet the two men won significant support from voters who felt betrayed by their parties and were dissatisfied or angry with the federal government.
Beyond Trump, four Republicans were clustered together, each receiving less than 20 percent of the vote. Kasich’s surprise second-place finish was driven by voters who described themselves as moderates and independents and were charmed by his pragmatism and his upbeat campaign. Effectively skipping Iowa, Kasich spent 62 days in New Hampshire, holding 106 town hall-style events.
“We never went negative because we have more good to sell than to spend our time being critical of somebody else,” an ebullient Kasich told supporters, vowing “to reshine America, to restore the spirit of America and to leave no one behind.”
But as striking as Kasich’s surge may have been, the fall of Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida may have been more significant. Rubio initially appeared to be capitalizing on his strong finish in Iowa, rising in the polls here, but a disastrous debate performance Saturday appeared to halt his momentum. Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Bush — whose campaign was all but left for dead after a series of poor debate performances and staff cutbacks — were bunched together.
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey finished a disappointing sixth after staking his campaign here. With little money left and a low chance of being eligible for a Republican debate on Saturday, Christie said he was going back to New Jersey on Wednesday “to take a deep breath.” Supporters of Bush, who formed an alliance with Christie here as both sought to diminish Rubio, are lobbying him to endorse the former Florida governor.
Trump’s win is the biggest victory in a New Hampshire Republican primary since 2000. He won pluralities of both Republican and independent voters, and showed strength across demographic groups.
Trump’s performance here, which followed Cruz’s victory in Iowa, has left the party establishment with two leading candidates who Republican leaders believe cannot win a November general election.
For the Democrats, Sanders’ popularity with liberals, young people, and some women and working-class white men has underscored potential vulnerabilities for Clinton in the nominating contests ahead. She is now under enormous pressure to prove that her message can inspire and rally voters.
In a punchy concession speech, held in the same college gym where she held a victory party in 2008, Clinton tried to look beyond New Hampshire and pledged to fight for the needs of black, Hispanic, gay and female voters — members of the coalition that she believes will ultimately win her the nomination.
“Now we take this campaign to the entire country,” Clinton said. “We’re going to fight for every vote in every state,” she added, continuing, “I know I have some work to do, particularly with young people.”