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The political focus has quickly moved from Iowa to New Hampshire. That's where presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are campaigning today ahead of the state's primaries next week. The two Democrats are coming off a very close contest in the Iowa caucuses, close enough for both sides to claim a win. NPR's Sam Sanders has the story.
SAM SANDERS, BYLINE: Yesterday in New Hampshire, it was a tale of dueling Democratic victory speeches, first, Hillary Clinton in Nashua. She thanked supporters for her Iowa caucus win, and she said it felt much better than her loss in Iowa in 2008.
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HILLARY CLINTON: I can tell you, I've won and I've lost there. It's a lot better to win. And it's also a great tribute to the organization and my supporters there. And we're bringing all that energy, all that excitement, all that determination right here to New Hampshire, where we're going to work hard up until the primary next week.
SAM SANDERS: And later in the day, Bernie Sanders kind of did the same thing, even though he officially lost by the narrowest of margins.
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BERNIE SANDERS: Last night in Iowa, we took on the most powerful political organization in this country. Last night, we came back from a 50-point deficit in the polls.
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SAM SANDERS: Sanders spoke in front of his supporters in Keene, N.H.
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BERNIE SANDERS: Last night, we began the political revolution not just in Iowa, not just in New Hampshire, but all over this country.
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SAM SANDERS: The race was too close to call until midday yesterday. And Sanders still refuses to concede. Yesterday, when speaking with reporters, he even raised some questions about the vote count.
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BERNIE SANDERS: Well, people in Iowa are taking a look at that. But I, you know, do think it's kind of unfortunate that - and again, I don't want to misspeak here, but it may be the case that some delegates were selected based on a flip of a coin, not the best way to do democracy.
SAM SANDERS: Yes, you can break a tie with a coin toss in the Iowa caucuses, but experts say it made little difference. All of this, the closeness of the vote, the questions about the caucus outcome, the fact that Sanders and Clinton are both still acting like they won, means we're in for a long fight. In New Hampshire, which has its primary next Tuesday, Sanders is up in some polls by 20 points. But, Hillary Clinton says she's fighting for every vote. And she's still got her husband, Bill, out on the trail.
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BILL CLINTON: We're here, and we're awake.
SAM SANDERS: After a late night in Iowa, the former president introduced his wife in New Hampshire, and he said that voters should expect to hear more about the differences between the two candidates.
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BILL CLINTON: So the question is, what are we going to do, and who's the best person to do it? And finally, in the last few days in Iowa, we really began to have a debate about what are the honest differences, what are the likely consequences, who's the best to do it.
SAM SANDERS: And there will be plenty of time and space for those differences to manifest. Tonight, both candidates will appear in a forum televised on CNN, and their campaigns are currently haggling over how many more debates they'll have in the coming weeks. Sam Sanders, NPR News, Manchester, N.H. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
