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Inside Politics

Analysts examine New Hampshire results


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(CNN) -- With Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry claiming victory in the New Hampshire Democratic primary and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in second place, analysts and CNN political correspondents considered the impact the race will have on the rest of the campaign.

"Considering when I visited him about five or six weeks ago, in the national polls [Kerry] was running behind Al Sharpton. And that's not a good sign for a candidate. What he did with the help of a new campaign staff, [he] made a decision: Go to Iowa, reinvent yourself."

-- CNN senior analyst Jeff Greenfield

"New Hampshire may not decide a great deal. ... We could have at least four candidates going into next week. Where are they going? To the South and West -- where Kerry and Dean, who finished first and second in this race, have to prove that they can do well outside of their native New England."

-- CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider

"This is not an eliminating victory [for Kerry], but it's a pretty doggone impressive victory. And coming on the heels of Iowa, I think it's a pretty impressive victory for John Kerry. We've got seven more states to go next Tuesday. I think this puppy's gonna get wrapped up here in a couple weeks."

-- Democratic strategist and CNN analyst James Carville

"I've been talking to some Dean people, trying to get their side, their spin of this. They're not trying to say, 'Oh it's a win.' What they're saying is, 'Look, this means Kerry's the front-runner.' They want to put the monkey on his back."

-- CNN analyst Paul Begala

"I don't think it's over. I think Dean in the face of coming out of Iowa as he did and then the question about his speech -- which didn't bother me that much -- has made quite a comeback."

-- Former Sen. Bob Dole

"What has to be remembered [is that] the next vote is in South Carolina, part of the South, John Edwards' birth state. So often the deck gets reshuffled. Senator Dole lost New Hampshire [in 1996] and then went on to win the whole nomination. To a certain extent, we've only got a snapshot here."

-- Journalist Bob Woodward

"Except for John Kerry, everybody else had a lousy night tonight. Nobody met their expectations. Howard Dean wanted to be closer, John Edwards wanted to have the surge continue from Iowa, Wesley Clark was very close to Howard Dean a week ago. And Joe Lieberman of course wanted to finish better than fifth. Nobody got there. Now what you have is Clark and Edwards kind of competing with each other to see who's going to be the Southern candidate, and that competition is going to continue later this week."

-- Time magazine columnist Joe Klein

"If he's serious about becoming president, [Edwards] not only has to win South Carolina, he's got to find another state or two. He cannot have a situation on February 3 where John Kerry comes in here, having won two of two contests, and walks away with four or five or seven."

-- CNN political contributor Carlos Watson


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