I thought that Barack Obama would beat Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire today…and handily. That wasn’t to be. Why?
Apparently, female voters went for Clinton in a big way today. But the reason for that isn’t manifestly obvious to me. My wife went to dinner tonight with two other women, all college educated baby boomers. My wife, for one, is ready to vote for a Democratic candidate this year. But all three of the women, as well as all of the college-educated baby boomer women with whom I have discussed this race, are clear that they would never vote for Hillary Clinton. They don’t trust her.
Perhaps that mistrust of Clinton exists even among many of the women who voted for her in New Hampshire today. But things happened over the weekend. One was the appearance that Obama and former Senator John Edwards ganged up on her during the debate on Saturday night. The other was her response to the question of a New Hampshire questioner who wondered how she was able to keep going on.
I have no doubt that response was genuine and perhaps, it caused many women to feel that they needed to stand with Clinton as she faced off against opponents they perceived to be bullying her. (If that’s the case, then New Hampshire women rallied around Clinton the way that New York women rallied to her side in the face of apparent bullying by her Republican opponent in her 2000 Senate race.)
I still believe that Obama will be the Democratic nominee this year. But New Hampshire has given the Clinton campaign a reprieve for now.