Reprinted from Reader Supported News
As I write this, 92% of the precincts have reported in New Hampshire, and Bernie Sanders has received over 138,331 votes. Donald Trump has received 92,062 votes. Now I know that Donald Trump is part of the establishment, but many of his supporters think they are sticking it to the establishment. I wonder how many reporters and pundits will point out that Bernie has received more votes than the top two Republicans combined. Who else is highlighting that Bernie beat "The Donald" by close to 50,000 votes?
By the way, Hillary Clinton also received over 88,000 votes, while John Kasich, who was 2nd on the Republican side, only had 41,615 votes. Many pundits talked about the record GOP turnout in Iowa but failed to point out that both Sanders and Clinton had 30,000 more votes than Ted Cruz. There is as much excitement on the Democratic side as there is on the GOP side. Granted, with more candidates herding voters to the polls, more GOP voters have turned out.
It looks like Bernie Sanders will beat Hillary Clinton by over 20%. It will be the largest primary victory in a contested New Hampshire primary ever. And as Howard Fineman has pointed out, New Hampshirites do not like Vermonters. The only real regional advantage is Massachusetts, because the most populated part of New Hampshire is in the Boston media market. So when Bill Clinton spun his second place finish as a win over Paul Tsongas, he had a case. Hillary Clinton does not have the same excuse -- she led Sanders by 40 points in June.
The exit polls provided us with the real reason Bernie Sanders won big in New Hampshire.
First off, Sanders won the women's vote by 7 points, most of that margin coming from his massive support among young women.
90% of New Hampshire Democratic voters believe the U.S. economic system generally favors the wealthy, a Sanders battle cry.
New Hampshire voters see Sanders as more honest and trustworthy than Clinton, and they felt he shares their values more than she does.