Iowa gave us a victory by Ted Cruz–and a suggestion by second-place finisher Donald Trump that maybe Cruz “stole it.” Will Trump take home the win in New Hampshire tonight? Will Jeb Bush be calling himself the Comeback Kid by the end of the night?
CBS News veteran Bob Schieffer said tonight all those town hall meetings can pay off–even for a candidate who may not be everyone’s first choice. “I think if there’s a surprise tonight, it could be John Kasich” Schieffer said on CBSN.
After 100+ NH town halls, @JohnKasich could perform surprisingly well, @bobschieffer says: https://t.co/E4ALfLuLJ7 https://t.co/n2qUnxoWlI
— CBSN (@CBSNLive) February 10, 2016
On the Democratic side, after the slimmest of victories in Iowa, how much can Hillary Clinton cut into Bernie Sanders‘ lead?
8:00 p.m. ET: Immediate Projections Everyone makes two immediate projections: Sanders wins on the Democratic side, and Trump wins among the Republicans. All of the network projections happened within seconds of each other, but as CNN’s Wolf Blitzer announced the projected winners, the video wall wasn’t ready to go. “No projection” it said for both the Republican and Democratic race:
CNN projects @BernieSanders and @realDonaldTrump have won the #NHPrimary https://t.co/pdypDy67CZ #FITN https://t.co/Kj4Jf0WMya
— CNN (@CNN) February 10, 2016
Ballroom at Rubio rally falls silent as Fox News calls New Hampshire for Donald Trump.
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) February 10, 2016
At Fox News, Megyn Kelly gave Sanders a new nickname: “Bernie Sandals.”
“Bernie Sandals”
Thank you, @megynkelly
https://t.co/GiIvtPE7a5 https://t.co/Yx8Xq8IzqV— Mashable (@mashable) February 10, 2016
Over at MSNBC, Chris Hayes had his own way of not saying Sanders: “Bernie Sandwich.”
Feeling the Bern and it’s not even 9pm. @chrislhayes pic.twitter.com/hBEc7VPooU
— Chris Ariens (@ChrisAriens) February 10, 2016
What do the results mean? In a special report on NBC, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd described the new landscape to NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt:
“Well, the big headline is this, Lester: When the country is upset and angry, New Hampshire and the New Hampshire primary has a way of telling us first how angry they are. And this dual result of two outsiders – two political novices in their political leadership, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump – this is a shot across the bow at both political parties, both political establishments. Arguably, ten-plus years of frustration with Washington leadership boiling over in New Hampshire tonight. What this means: We’ll have a long slog for the fight for the heart and soul of both parties – the Democratic Party and Bernie Sanders and the Republican Party with Donald Trump. This is something else, Lester.”
9:02 p.m. ET: Projections for Kasich ABC, NBC, and Fox News have projected that John Kasich will finish in second place. CNN made that call at 9:53 p.m. ET, after speeches by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
9:50 p.m. ET: Clinton conceded, and Sanders delivered a victory speech that lasted long enough that Fox News resorted to the double box to assure viewers they were not missing Donald Trump’s victory speech:
10:30 p.m. ET: Christie Out, or What? There’s some confusion about the status of Chris Christie’s campaign:
WE’VE GOT CONFUSION HERE! pic.twitter.com/p9mfsarFaF
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) February 10, 2016