Clinton Wins New Hampshire

(Updated below)

Just a couple of quick observations before I hit the sack.

- Calling the state for Clinton with a 5000ish vote lead and 30% of the precincts still not in is a little close for my taste.

- I'm a little tired of the dramatics from all the pundits. "Incredible comeback" some were calling it. They were shocked when Obama won Iowa and now they're shocked when Clinton wins in NH? Calm down, people. It's a long haul. I get the excitement, but they were acting as if Dennis Kucinich had won the freakin' thing.

- While on MSNBC, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post hinted that race might have been a minor issue in NH. He compared the polls/outcome to that of Tom Bradley running for Governor of California in 1982.

- Now I'm going to sound sexist, misogynistic, and every other term you can use for men-hating women (...and I don't. I love women. I have all their albums) but I believe the difference in the polls on Monday and the outcome on Tuesday was the non-stop coverage of Hillary Clinton's emotional display. As Rachel Maddow noted on her radio show tonight, Hillary's emotional display was the lead story on all three networks. Even I felt empathy for Clinton. Again, I'm not saying it was a bad thing (for Jeebus' sake Mitt Romney choked up on Meet the Press while listening to his own rhetoric, and where was the coverage?), but I believe that seeing Clinton's "vulnerability" and seeing her human side tugged at the heartstrings of women voters, most of whom voted for Hillary.

- One thing's for sure: this is going to be a very exciting few months politically.

UPDATE (1/9 6:45am): Maureen Dowd goes where no male columnist dare... and echos a couple of points I've made in previous posts.

Dowd: Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House?