The Comeback Queen and the American Democracy

Sometimes you just have to be amazed by politics. No matter what you think of her, for the moment, give it up for Hillary Rodham Clinton!

Here's the New York Times story on the New Hampshire results:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won the New Hampshire Democratic primary in a surprising show of strength after losing the Iowa caucuses to Senator Barack Obama last week. Senator John McCain prevailed meanwhile on the Republican side, breathing life into a campaign that had been given up for dead just months ago and scrambling a race that now has no clear front-runner.

“Now it’s a one-on-one race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama,” said Terry McAuliffe, Mrs. Clinton campaign manager. He said that Mr. Obama came out of Iowa with momentum but Mrs. Clinton turned it around with her debate performance Saturday night and what he called a humanizing moment on the campaign trail on Monday.

Mr. Obama conceded the race to Mrs. Clinton, congratulating her on a “hard-fought victory.”

He told cheering supporters in Manchester: “You made it clear in this moment and this election there is something happening in America. We are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction.”

I'm retiring for the night. I'll have lots to say in the weeks and months ahead, although I can say now that for all of the country's worries, our democracy's as vital as ever.

New Hampshire, if it was ever important as a first-in-the-nation primary, has burnished its reputation forever by tonight's results. Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain stunned the political establishment with victories at odds with consensus opinion and recent polling trends.

There will be bitter battles ahead, not to mention blood, sweat, and tears. But for now, sleep well knowing the Americans settle their differences at the ballot box. We will have a vigorous contest through February 5, a day when many of the states of the nation who have long felt shut out of the nomination process will have their say.

Critics who dismiss Iowa and New Hampshire have to ask themselves: What if it was me? What would I do, would I want to change the system? We can go to a regional primary, but after this year's results, even democratic pessimists have to concede that the dynamics of election 2008 energized a nation. This is what it's all about! The drama, the highs and lows, the agony and the ecstasy. You've got to love it!

Tune in back here tomorrow for more analysis.

As regular readers know, I'm extremely pleased with John McCain's comeback. I've felt like it was Christmas Eve all day, waiting for bedtime and then opening my "presents" the next day - in this case, the big gift of a McCain triumph! Merry Christmas in January!

But as McCain said, "tomorrow, we begin again." Thank goodness.