Fading in polls, Clinton vows to fight on

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire (Reuters) - A teary-eyed Hillary Clinton pushed for support on Monday as polls showed her poised for a huge New Hampshire loss to Democratic rival Barack Obama, but the former front-runner vowed to carry on with her presidential quest even if she loses.

Obama warned supporters against overconfidence as a flood of new polls gave him a double-digit lead over Clinton one day before the state casts the next votes in the race for the White House.

Polls will close in the state at 8 p.m. EST on Tuesday, with results expected to begin rolling in quickly.

At a campaign event in Portsmouth, Clinton choked up and grew uncharacteristically emotional as she talked about her reasons for seeking the presidency in the November election.

"Some of us put ourselves out there and do this," she said, her voice breaking and her eyes glistening with tears, "against some pretty difficult odds and we do it each one of us because we care about our country."

"But some of us are right and some of us are wrong," she said in a hesitant, quaking voice. "Some of us are ready and some of us are not."

The incident resurrected memories of former Maine Sen. Edmund Muskie's tears during the 1972 New Hampshire campaign, credited with helping to bring down his front-running bid.

Clinton, who would be the first woman president, promised to stay in the fight until it was over, possibly on "Super Tuesday" on February 5, when 22 states hold nominating contests in the quest to be the party's nominee in the November election.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, we're going on," she told the CBS "Early Show."

"I've always felt that this is going to be a very tough, hard-fought election, and I'm ready for that," added Clinton, who finished third in the first nominating contest in Iowa last week behind Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.

Obama rolled across the state in an effort to turn out supporters, warning there was still plenty of work needed before Tuesday's vote.

"Do not take this race for granted. I know we had a nice boost over the last couple of days but elections are funny things," Obama, an Illinois senator vying to become the first black U.S. president, told supporters in Claremont.

In the state's hard-fought Republican race, Sen. John McCain of Arizona held a more narrow lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in new polls. He scrambled across the state to urge supporters to get out and vote -- and asked them to bring a friend.

'I'M GOING TO WIN'

"I need you to get out the vote tomorrow, this could be a very close election and it will depend on voter turnout," McCain said in Keene. "I'm proud to say I'm going to win tomorrow."

New Hampshire is the next battleground in the state-by-state process of picking Democratic and Republican candidates for November's presidential election to succeed President George W. Bush.

A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll showed Obama with a 10-point edge on Clinton in the state, 39 percent to 29 percent, as he gained a wave of momentum from his win in Iowa.

McCain was relegated to the political scrap heap last summer after sinking polls and poor fundraising forced him to shake up his staff and recalibrate his campaign, but he now leads Romney by 5 points in New Hampshire.

Clinton and Romney are both under pressure to revive their campaigns after disappointing showings in Iowa, and a second consecutive loss for either could be devastating.

Romney, who at one time led polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, finished second in Iowa to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

A wealthy former venture capitalist who has pumped tens of millions of his own money into the race, Romney said he was buoyed by a Sunday night debate where he tangled with McCain and Huckabee over their records on taxes and immigration.

"Right now it's a neck-and-neck race. But with the debate last night and the support I received from that debate I anticipate winning tomorrow," Romney said in Stratham.

Obama has been drawing huge crowds on the campaign trail and was joined on Monday by former Sen. Bill Bradley, a one-time professional basketball star who ran his own unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2000.

"Starting tomorrow morning, you have a chance to declare a new day, you have a chance to turn a page and write a new chapter in American history," Obama said. "It is very important for us all to be clear that we have not won anything yet -- here in New Hampshire."

Apologizing for a hoarse-sounding voice, he added, "I asked a doctor what he would prescribe and he said 'shut up."'

link

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Don't you understand I'm ready and he's not waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

Don't you understand I'm ready and he's not waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

i was surprised to see she is capable of tears.

[no name 1]

1 race & people are crying it's over? We have 49 more states to go.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

'People' aren't crying. Hillary is crying.

Someone call the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahmbulance!

[no name 1]

'People' aren't crying. Hillary is crying.

Someone call the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahmbulance!

She's worried, as anyone would be. Tmrow is important but not as important as Super Tuesday, a month away.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

She's gonna tear up in public at every minor setback?

This is Presidential?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

As I suggested before, Hillary's biggest obstacle has been to convince people that she is a likable person. It's why Huckabee has done well.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

As I suggested before, Hillary's biggest obstacle has been to convince people that she is a likable person. It's why Huckabee has done well.

Huck is a freak. In New Hampshire, yesterday:

Baptist minister and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee ... delivered a sermon of more than 20 minutes on how to be part of "God's Army" in the middle school cafeteria where the congregation meets.

"When we become believers, it's as if we have signed up to be part of God's Army, to be soldiers for Christ," Huckabee told the enthusiastic audience.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0602261_pf.html

[no name 1]

She's gonna tear up in public at every minor setback?

This is Presidential?

Maybe she's just f*cking tired of being on the road 24/7 & had an emotional moment. It's hardly an unravelling. VJ Sheesh.

Edited January 7, 2008 by devilette

[kaydee457 13]

Well, this was predictable. She has belived for so long that she was/is the annointed one that it must be quite a shocker to her to find out that it just isn't going to be.....a reality check for her for sure. After all, this was her turn.

Oh well, that's what happens when your an arrogant a$$..... I view Obama's surge as no more than an anti-Hillary vote.

Frankly I'm feeling sorry for the dems this year as they clearly don't have an "electable" and viable candidate (as if they ever did).

Obama? You have to be kidding?????

Edited January 7, 2008 by kaydee457

[one...two...tree 2,762]

As I suggested before, Hillary's biggest obstacle has been to convince people that she is a likable person. It's why Huckabee has done well.

Huck is a freak. In New Hampshire, yesterday:

Baptist minister and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee ... delivered a sermon of more than 20 minutes on how to be part of "God's Army" in the middle school cafeteria where the congregation meets.

"When we become believers, it's as if we have signed up to be part of God's Army, to be soldiers for Christ," Huckabee told the enthusiastic audience.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0602261_pf.html

He has a lot of charm that voters found appealing in Bill Clinton and GW Bush.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

She's gonna tear up in public at every minor setback?

This is Presidential?

Maybe she's just f*cking tired of being on the road 24/7 & had an emotional moment. It's hardly an unravelling. VJ Sheesh.

Tired? An emotional moment?

This is why we have campaigns, to separate out the wheat from the chaff. This is nothing compared to what actually being President will be like. If she's having "an emotional moment" in public in the primaries after such a minor setback (Iowa is a minor setback, isn't it?), how in the world will she handle being President? She can't. That much is clear.

[athena_ny 1]

Hah, good. Hillary isn't going to change a damn thing anyway. It's like voting for the status quo. All she wants in the title of President, nothing more.

[no name 1]

She's gonna tear up in public at every minor setback?

This is Presidential?

Maybe she's just f*cking tired of being on the road 24/7 & had an emotional moment. It's hardly an unravelling. VJ Sheesh.

Tired? An emotional moment?

This is why we have campaigns, to separate out the wheat from the chaff. This is nothing compared to what actually being President will be like. If she's having "an emotional moment" in public in the primaries after such a minor setback (Iowa is a minor setback, isn't it?), how in the world will she handle being President? She can't. That much is clear.

Emotional for ONE minute is a dealbreaker? Some may say that's a human characteristic.

ONE CAUCUS, SHE IS DOWN BY ONE DELEGATE. Hardly a campaign ender. Saying so shows your ignorance of the process.

Edited January 7, 2008 by devilette