Posted on 01/07/2008 12:07:51 PM PST by Teacher317
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."'
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Ellen Wulfhorst, Ed Stoddard, Jason Szep in New Hampshire; Writing by John Whitesides; editing by David Wiessler)
(For more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)
Heaven help us if we ever face an intense-pressure situation with her in the White House.
Well, maybe she could run for governor of Louisiana........
Teary eyed? I’d say Hildabeast is more done than had been previously thought.......
At this point, I think she’s simply hoping for a Musharraf-style election victory.
Exactly, I can just see George Washington or Teddy Roosevelt crying in front of the public. Please God don’t let this woman become in CINC.
Heh. The meglomaniacal shrew can’t even handle the pressure of losing a race in a non-binding caucus in Iowa. Let’s put her hands on the nuclear football. /sarc
I can just imagine Billy Jeff trying to teach the shrew to tear-up on cue, as he was so adept at doing, but she couldn’t squeeze out a tear and had to fake it.
My EYES! My EYES!
Congressman Billybob
At this point, I think she’s simply hoping for a Musharraf-style election victory.
At this point, I think she’s simply hoping for a Musharraf-style election victory.
What a faker. If she is teary eyed, she is only sorry that she’ll have to continue her Alinsky mission from her NY Senate seat, while Obambi or Brecky continue onward with their mission(s).
You can say that again.
The fact that Reuters would run this story is the death knell for Hillary. The MSM is jumping ship every where you look-the NYT, the Washington Post.
Some of the Clintons most ardent supporters are from Hollywood. The facelifts and make-up jobs aren’t the only things they’ve provided.
But no matter what they do, everybody already knows there’s a pig under that lipstick.
Some of the Clintons most ardent supporters are from Hollywood. The facelifts and make-up jobs aren’t the only things they’ve provided.
But no matter what they do, everybody already knows there’s a pig under that lipstick.
That just kinda says it all I think.
This works for me. Just shut up then! And take your teary-eyed opponent with you!
The good news just keeps comin' in spades. HALLELUJAH!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
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