The Long Run

We could be in for a long, perhaps very long, presidential campaignc—in both parties. Sen. Hillary Clinton's stunning comeback victory in New Hampshire's Democratic primary, coupled with Sen. John McCain's runaway triumph on the Republican side, means the race in both parties could go on into the spring, if not beyond.

Among Democrats, there is every reason to expect a tough struggle between Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. Hillary showed what a resilient person she truly is. She rose to the occasion, and then some. With the national spotlight on her in victory in Manchester, she got off a couple of great lines. "I listened to you," she told the voters of New Hampshire, "and I found my own voice." Then she said, "Let's give America a comeback like the one New Hampshire just gave me." Perfect.

The money crowd that was about to abandon her will be back. She can now go forward to plan a national, down-to-the-wire effort. She will make some changes in her campaign structure, but nothing major. She has adjusted the tone of her approach. She found a way to be more personal, and intimate, and focused on the needs of people.

Her allies will ask questions with increasing urgency about Obama, whose full biography really isn't known. He probably talked too much in recent days about "making history." That is an inspiring point, but an abstract one for many voters, evidently.

The media that in many cases dismissed her will have to consider how to proceed, as will the Clintons, for that matter. The media polls, by the way, were wrong, way wrong.