Advertisement

Clinton, Sanders use N.H. primary to frame the long battle to come

 
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets patrons Saturday in Manchester, N.H. The themes from the state’s primary help form a potentially long fight for the nomination.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets patrons Saturday in Manchester, N.H. The themes from the state’s primary help form a potentially long fight for the nomination.
Published Feb. 7, 2016

CONCORD, N.H. — For the Democratic presidential candidates, there are two campaigns under way in New Hampshire.

The first is over the size of what Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders agree is a likely Sanders victory here Tuesday: Clinton is pulling out every stop to shrink what the latest polls show is a gap of 20 percentage points or more, while Sanders is striving for a win that would give his long-shot candidacy fresh momentum.

But the more consequential battle playing out on the ground last week may have been about what happens after New Hampshire — and which themes and issues will shape a potentially prolonged battle for the Democratic nomination.

At her appearances here last week, Clinton tried to build a foundation to frame the choice before Democratic voters in the weeks ahead. "I'm a progressive who gets results," she has said again and again.

It is not that Clinton is giving up on New Hampshire, a state where she in 2008 and her husband, Bill Clinton, in 1992 mounted comebacks. But however unlikely a victory in Tuesday's primary may seem, Clinton is using the closing days of the New Hampshire campaign to set the tone for the contests in Nevada and South Carolina, as well as the dozens of big-state primaries and caucuses that follow in March and beyond.

Clinton planned to leave New Hampshire briefly today for a hastily arranged visit to Flint, Mich. She has regularly cited the lead-poisoned water crisis in the economically depressed and majority-African-American city as an example of racial and economic inequality.

"Hillary is looking across a much broader and more diverse Democratic Party than the New Hampshire electorate," said strategist Paul Begala, a Clinton loyalist.

The same could be said for Sanders. On Friday, the senator from Vermont accepted the endorsement of Benjamin Jealous, the former head of the NAACP.

Sanders' move was aimed at a much wider audience than predominantly white New Hampshire. It also comes as he is trying to boost his recognition and support among black voters, who account for more than half of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina, which holds its primary Feb. 27.

But Sanders is hardly taking his eye off New Hampshire. Though his aides are trying to tamp down expectations, Sanders is doing everything he can to grind out a big win. His campaign is trying to frame the primary here as a test of general-election strength, considering the state's large numbers of independent voters.

If he beats Clinton by a large margin, his advisers said, it would be a crucial springboard that gives immediate credibility to his insurgent bid.

"We want to build our vote as big as possible," Sanders strategist Tad Devine said. "New Hampshire could be a huge momentum event. That's what we're shooting for."