Decisive victories in Mass.
Clinton fends off endorsements of Obama; Romney silences skeptics
Hillary Clinton withstood a string of high-profile endorsements for Barack Obama to glide to a surprisingly decisive victory, while Mitt Romney held onto his Republican base to handily beat John McCain yesterday, in the most competitive and meaningful Massachusetts presidential primary in memory.
In one of the largest of voter turnouts in state presidential primaries, Clinton surged to a lead with the earliest returns last night, then never gave it up - in sharp contrast to the public surveys that had shown Obama closing in over the final week. With about 92 percent of the state's precincts reporting, she held a 56 percent to 41 percent lead. Clinton had 47 Massachusetts delegates to Obama's 29, according to preliminary counts.
Obama, who had the support of Governor Deval Patrick and Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, carried Boston by a small margin of under 10,000 votes, as Mayor Thomas M. Menino's political machine kept her close. Obama also did well in liberal, affluent suburbs.
But Clinton ran up comfortable margins in urban areas such as Quincy, Worcester, Fall River, Springfield, New Bedford, and other more conservative towns in the Merrimack Valley and South Shore.
"This is still Clinton country," Menino said in an interview last night. "Our campaign wasn't about speeches; it was about work. All we had was people making the phone calls, knocking on doors. We weren't involved in superstar campaigns; we were involved in workers campaigns."
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, a key Clinton supporter in Massachusetts, savored the victory last night by pointing out that the state's major political figures - Patrick, Kennedy, Kerry - had thrown their weight behind Obama and energized his campaigns in the closing days.
"Those are the show horses; we are the work horses," said DiMasi, who lined up most of his Democratic legislative colleagues behind the New York senator. "It was the people and the volunteers at the grass roots, not the political celebrities, who decided this election."
Women appeared to be a key source of support for Clinton.
"Demographic is destiny," said Jeffrey M. Berry, political science professor at Tufts University. "Many more women turned out than men and that favored Senator Clinton," he said. He cited CNN exit polls that showed Clinton outperforming Obama among women 57 percent to 40 percent.
Romney, proving to some skeptics that he has strong support among local Republicans, far outpaced McCain, 51 percent to 41 percent with 92 percent of the state's precincts reporting. Romney had 21 Massachusetts delegates to McCain's 17, according to preliminary counts.
McCain had taunted the former Massachusetts governor by making an unusual foray into Romney's home state on the eve of the primary vote.
Romney's victory is significant for the one-term governor, who mobilized GOP legislators to make sure he held his home state. Much of the Republican establishment, including two of three former GOP governors, had endorsed other candidates.
"There was a special feeling in my heart when I realized that the three places Ann and I have lived in our life all voted for us, Michigan, Utah, and Massachusetts," Romney told a boisterous crowd of supporters at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
House minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. said the Republican establishment was out of touch with average GOP voters. "It was a big win," said the Republican of North Reading. "There were some polls that thought it would be very close, and he put that myth to rest. People knew him; people appreciated him."
Because state officials moved the Massachusetts presidential primary to Feb. 5, Bay State voters were given a rare opportunity to play a key role in choosing each of the party nominees. Massachusetts has traditionally voted in March, often after the candidates have clinched the nominations in earlier primaries.
With 92 of the precincts reporting, 1.6 million votes had been counted, surpassing the number cast in 2000, the last time Massachusetts had competitive primaries in both parties. Turnout was 1.3 million in the 1980 primary, the highest number since records were first compiled in 1948.
Random interviews with voters in Boston indicated that Obama got support from those who were upset with Clinton's initial support for the Iraq War. "She did vote for the war to begin with," said Nate Jordan, a 26-year-old electrician from Hyde Park. "Barack, from the jump, was against it. So was I."
Other Obama supporters said they did not want to extend the Clinton hold on the White House. "I like the idea of change," said Pamela Bush, a 48-year-old community organizer from Hyde Park. "We've already had a Clinton in the White House. We've had [20] years of the same families. We need some new blood."
One Clinton voter said Clinton's gender was an issue for her. "It's always been mostly men," said Grace Giannangelo, a 69-year-old supermarket worker from Hyde Park. "It would be quite a change, really."
Clinton, who was endorsed by Senate President Therese Murray and DiMasi, also heavily relied on Menino's urban political organization. The mayor had 800 people working for Clinton yesterday, including 80 drivers who transported elderly voters to the polls.
Polls initially had suggested that Clinton had a substantial lead but that margin narrowed significantly, particularly after the highly publicized endorsement of Obama last week by Kennedy and his niece, Caroline Kennedy. Obama raised $3.8 million in Massachusetts, about $1 million more than Clinton. Under the Democratic Party's primary rules, the candidates will split Massachusetts delegates based on their proportion of votes in US House districts.
Romney flew into Massachusetts yesterday afternoon. He and Ann Romney voted at town hall in Belmont. Before a rally last night at the convention center the couple planned to return for their first full day home since Christmas.
"It's nice to get back and to scare the rodents out, and - not exactly - and open the mail," Mitt Romney said. "We have a lot of mail. And you know, a hot bath, what do you think, Ann?"
"Sounds good," she said. 