What New Hampshire Means

Well, I don't think you saw that one coming. Oh sure, maybe you thought that Bernie and Trump would win- did you think both would win by roughly 20%? I don't think many people did. I certainly didn't. I thought both could win by double-digits, but that they won so easily was a bit jarring.

What does it mean? Well, on the Democratic side, maybe nothing. We don't know if Bernie can turn it into longer-term momentum or not. On the Republican side, New Hampshire has often acted as a buffer against the Iowa results, and no Republican nominee in modern times didn't win either Iowa or New Hampshire. You would still have to be a bit arrogant to suggest that last night tells you how things will go now.

We do know this though- the anti-establishment won New Hampshire. Bernie and Trump are both tapping into an unrest (one with an agenda, the other with anger), and running with it. New Hampshire bought in, completely. This does not mean that everyone else will. Iowa and New Hampshire are both incredibly engaged states, and states that get an extraordinary amount of attention from the candidates. The idea is that they get that personal touch, that time to engage the candidates, and are supposed to let the rest of the country know who is under and overrated. The rest of this campaign moving forward is not like that. So while it's clear that New Hampshire bought into the challenges to the status quo, let's see if other states follow suit.