MANCHESTER, N.H. – Winning never meant less for Democratic presidential candidates Tuesday night as messages from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, retired Gen. Wesley Clark and Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) were decidedly upbeat following their losses to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in the nation’s first presidential primary.
Dean continually attacked President George W. Bush in his concession speech before a crowd of nearly 1,500 supporters at Southern New Hampshire University. He said America needs a president who is a “uniter and not a divider” and who does “what’s right, not what’s popular” with a “foreign policy based on cooperation, not confrontation.”
Unity was Dean’s theme as he said the “biggest loss we’ve suffered under Bush” was not jobs or foreign policy, but instead the “loss of our sense of community.”
“I’m tired of being divided by race,” Dean said. “I’m tired of being divided by gender … I’m tired of being divided by income. I’m tired of being divided by religion. I’m tired of being divided by sexual orientation.”
Few at the rally minded Dean’s second-place finish, as Karen Hicks, director of Dean’s New Hampshire campaign, reminded the crowd of a similar situation in 1992.
“Who remembers 1992, when New Hampshire gave first place to a Massachusetts senator and second to the governor of a small state?” Hicks asked the crowd before introducing Dean. “Well we did it again.”
Former Arkansas governor and President Bill Clinton came in a close second to then-Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas in the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic primary.
Although Dean finished second to Kerry, many of his supporters said they see the New Hampshire primary as merely one among many.
“He stands a good chance of winning – not in New Hampshire,” said a Dean supporter and chief operating officer of a New Hampshire manufacturing company from Merrimack, who wished only to be referred to as Jack. He added that he was disappointed in Dean’s second-place finish, but that he expected the former governor to regain the momentum he has lost since Iowa.
“New Hampshire isn’t representative of the whole country,” said Jack’s wife, Diane.
Dean did not mention any of the other Democratic candidates in his speech.
Clark was equally positive following his third place finish as he told a crowd of about 400 supporters at local restaurant C.R. Sparks that “we came into New Hampshire as one of the elite eight [and] tonight we leave New Hampshire as one of the final four.”
Focusing on his ability to beat Bush, Clark told supporters that he was in for the long haul.
“We must beat George W. Bush,” Clark said. “I can and I will … We’re heading south. We’re heading west, and we ain’t slowing down until the final buzzer sounds.”
Supporters of the general and former NATO commander were also optimistic abut his third-place showing and focused on his wide appeal and what they said was his ability to win key southern states in the November general election.
“It’s just the beginning,” said Julie Cook of Newburyport, Mass., whose husband is an advertising representative for Clark’s campaign. “He’s got the ability. He’s a southerner, so he can beat Bush, and he’s an outsider.”
Edwards was also upbeat despite finishing in fourth place as he told supporters in the Radisson hotel ballroom in Merrimack that “New Hampshire has been very good to a visitor from North Carolina.”
Following his surge in the polls after last Monday’s Iowa caucuses, Edwards told supporters that he would ride the momentum into the coming primaries.
“Here in New Hampshire, 10 days ago we were 20 points behind General Wesley Clark and look at what we’ve done,” Edwards said. “We’re going to take this energy and momentum and we’re going to take it right through February third.”
Edwards’ message focused on bridging the gap between the poorest and wealthiest Americans.
“We still live in a country where there’s two different Americas,” Edwards said. “One where there’s all those families who don’t have to worry abut anything and one for everyone else. It doesn’t have to be like that.”
Edwards also said Bush has harmed America’s reputation as a “beacon of freedom.”
Some supporters of the North Carolina senator were disappointed with his fourth-place showing and hoped for a smaller margin of loss.
“It’s disappointing,” said Linda Conti, 54, of Portsmouth. “I wanted him to get 15 percent – it’s disappointing to not get any delegates.”
Staff writer Timothy Malcolm contributed to this report from Manchester, and staff writer Dennis Mayer contributed from Merrimack.
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