New Hampshire critical moment for Clinton

ANALYSIS

updated 4:10 p.m. ET Jan. 8, 2008

WASHINGTON - If New Hampshire 16 years ago threw a lifeline to Bill Clinton's struggling candidacy, the state's primary Tuesday could put Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid on life support.

It's a stunning turn of events for the former first lady, who has seen once formidable candidacy all but swamped by Barack Obama and his powerful message of change.

With polls showing New Hampshire poised to deliver another victory to Obama after his win in Iowa last week, Clinton - who has made electability a central theme of her candidacy - may have to soldier on amid mounting evidence that Democratic voters want to elect someone else instead.

Advisers say that after her third-place showing in Iowa last week, there simply wasn't time to turn things around in New Hampshire, whose primary came just five days later. Instead, they are pinning their hopes on a multistate primary Feb. 5, which they hope would provide enough time to peel away at Obama's lead.

Clinton strategists were also weighing how forcefully to campaign in Nevada and South Carolina, which both hold contests later in January. The powerful Las Vegas-based Culinary Union was likely to endorse Obama on Wednesday, weakening Clinton's chances there. And South Carolina's large population of black voters were expected to strongly back Obama.

Video Extended interview with Barack Obama Jan. 7: Watch the entire Brian Williams interview with Barack Obama the day before the New Hampshire primary. (20 minutes long) Nightly News

New Hampshire famously made Bill Clinton the "Comeback Kid" in 1992, giving him a strong second-place finish after his candidacy was nearly derailed by allegations of womanizing and efforts to evade the draft. He went on to win the Democratic nomination and the first of two terms as president that year.

The state has offered no such solace to his wife this time.

She received just polite applause and occasional boos at a state party fundraiser Friday night, while Obama was swamped by enthusiastic supporters. And while the Illinois senator was greeted with enormous, raucous audiences throughout the state, Clinton was left to help move chairs around at one campaign event to allow in enough people to make it appear respectably crowded.

In a nationally televised debate Saturday, Clinton was forced to defend her likability while Obama - somewhat ungraciously - deadpanned, "You're likable enough."

John Edwards, who narrowly bested Clinton in Iowa and has campaigned energetically in New Hampshire, joined forces with Obama in the debate to paint the New York senator as little more than a Washington hack.

Video Clinton emotional in N.H. remarks Jan. 7: Hillary Rodham Clinton’s eyes water and her voice break as she talks with voters about her campaign for the presidency. NBC's Athena Jones reports. MSNBC

Clinton is said to be frustrated and devastated by the situation, while her team is scrambling to retool her message to be more forward looking and less nostalgic about her husband's successes in the 1990s.

They also hope for stronger press scrutiny of Obama and are openly furious at they perceive to have been fawning media coverage of the Illinois senator thus far.

Bill Clinton, who has campaigned doggedly throughout New Hampshire for his wife, complained bitterly Monday that his wife had been unfairly treated while Obama had been given a free pass.

"The idea that one of these campaigns is positive and the other is negative when I know the reverse is true and I have seen it and I have been blistered by it for months is a little tough to take," the former president said at a campaign forum at Dartmouth College. "Just because of the sanitizing coverage that's in the media doesn't mean the facts aren't out there."

Indeed, her advisers intend to step up their scrutiny of Obama's record in the coming days and are likely to begin airing negative ads - the first in what has been a remarkably civil TV battle so far.

But even as the campaign retools and considers a new strategy, Clinton herself has been forced to acknowledge what amounts to a painful rejection of her as a candidate.

"This is very personal for me - it's not just political, not just public," she said Monday, eyes brimming with tears.

Picking the president: The candidates Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed. John McCain                Barack Obama

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