Return of the Mac

John McCain has won New Hampshire again after winning it in the 2000 primary against George W. Bush. McCain edged out Mitt Romney 36.8% to 31.23% with 58% of precincts reporting.

Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama, to much surprise, 39% to 36%, although the race is too close to call as of 10:15pm (EST).

McCain is being called the comeback kid, much like how Bill Clinton dubbed himself in 1992. Much of McCain's support stems from
Independent voters who can participate in the New Hampshire primary.

Governor Mike Huckabee was running third in NH with 12%, while Giuliani had 9%. McCain's comeback was foreseen by pundits, but Hillary's camp had practically conceded defeat before the votes were in tonight. They were by no means ready to quit, but they expected Obama to win. Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard expects John Edwards to drop out after a third place showing in NH; however, I think he'll stick it out until a few southern states have voted in their primaries since Edwards is well known and liked in many areas of the south.

Giuliani is still banking on Florida and other big states to provide him with the delegates he needs to win the nomination. I would expect Thompson to call it quits after another bad showing and an all around brutal and disappointing campaign.