So much for the dream a lot of folks had of Barack Obama winning two in a row over Hillary Clinton.
The New York senator edged out Obama by 3 percentage points to win the New Hampshire Democratic primary, overcoming a third-place finish in Iowa and defying pre-voting polls that had given Obama a strong lead.
"Let's give America the kind of comeback New Hampshire has just given me," Clinton, told supporters Tuesday night.
Only moments before, Obama, the freshman senator from Illinois conceded to Clinton.
"I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard fought victory in New Hampshire," said Obama to supporters in Nashua, New Hampshire. "I am still fired up and ready to go."
At EUR press time, With most of the precincts' reports in, Clinton was ahead of Obama 39 percent to 36 percent, a lead she maintained throughout the night, according to a tally by the Associated Press. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards was in third place with 17 percent, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was fourth at 5 percent.
When the news of Clinton's victory was announced by the TV networks, it was on an poppin' for her supporters reports, Bloomberg.
"When we walked in, it was like going to a wake. I think people are shocked, because everyone here was expecting a loss," said Bill Thompson of Bedford.
At an Obama campaign rally the crowd booed when the results were shown.
"I thought he was a shoo-in, honestly, I didn't expect for there to be this margin of difference," said Regina Knowlton, who voted for Obama in Wyndham. "It doesn't keep the momentum going for him."
Clinton led Obama among women who voted in the primary 47 percent to 34 percent, according to exit poll data cited by MSNBC. She and Obama split the votes of those who decided within the last three days which candidate to support.
There have been reports that no matter what the results were in New Hampshire, Clinton will make changes in her organization. That appears to have been confirmed by what Terry McAuliffe, her campaign manager, told the Fox News Channel.
"We're going to have a lot more top-level advisers coming in to help this campaign as we move to the next phase, which is really the February 5 contests."
On Feb 5th, almost two-dozen states will be holding primaries or caucuses, including California and New York, which are strongholds for Clinton.
Meanwhile, in the New Hampshire Republican primary, Arizona Senator John McCain won, defeating Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the winner in Iowa, came in third.
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