Foreshadowing
Days before the New Hampshire primary, pollsters stopped polling. Obama had it wrapped up, they said, by 10, or 15 percentage points. Instead, Clinton campaigned hard through the weekend in town halls and small groups all around the state. In her victory speech, Clinton said that in New Hampshire, she had found her voice.
On the eve of Super Tuesday, that voice is sore. Clinton, like Obama, McCain, Romney, Huckabee, and Paul, has been traveling across the country reaching out to voters in all 22 Super Tuesday states. Time and resources are limited, however, and the campaigns forfeited town hall-style campaigning in favor of large rallies. (Obama in particular has attracted vast crowds.) To reach out to voters in all of the states, the Clinton campaign purchased an hour of television time on the Hallmark Channel tonight, inviting questions form volunteers and supporters in each of the states with primaries tomorrow (also on her website at http://townhall.hillaryclinton.com). A nod from the campaign to New Hampshire past successes, perhaps…?
Polling figures show another story: the race among Democrats is tightening, but McCain plans to solidify a victory. With only hours remaining before polls open, the candidates can only hope that their contacts and surrogates around the country can line up a state-by-state win. In the Republican race, the night will likely be short. Among Democrats, the polls can only foreshadow an early morning.