US presidential contenders plan next mover after New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, United States, Wednesday

Hillary Clinton and a gaggle of mainstream Republican presidential hopefuls turned their gaze south Wednesday, hoping to move on from thumping New Hampshire primary defeats at the hands of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

Mr Sanders and Mr Trump — two political outsiders with vastly different ideologies, but who have a common campaign credo of shouting truth at power — won the second contest in this months-long nomination race with some ease.

Mr Sanders almost doubled Mrs Clinton’s tally and Mr Trump bested second place Ohio governor John Kasich by almost 20 percentage points.

Both results shocked the party establishments, virtually guaranteeing bitter and drawn-out races to the Democratic and Republican nominations.

In a uneasy concession speech, Mrs Clinton immediately pivoted away from her months-long stump address, deploying messages designed to appeal to black voters who can decide the next primaries in South Carolina and Nevada.

“I know I have some work to do, particularly with young people,” acknowledged Mrs Clinton, who received just 16 per cent of the vote among people under 29 according to New Hampshire exit polls.

ESTABLISHMENT POLITICS

The only age group where she came out ahead was the over 65s. Mrs Clinton said she recognised the American electorate’s fury with establishment politics.

“People have every right to be angry,” she said. “But they’re also hungry, they’re hungry for solutions.”

But her message risks falling on deaf ears unless she manages to address a core weakness revealed by Tuesday’s exit polls: her lack of voter trust.

Among voters who cared most about trustworthiness, only five per cent chose the former secretary of state who has failed to shake off the controversy over her use of a private email server while in the sensitive office.

Mr Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who advocates nothing less than “political revolution” has not fared well among minority groups will have his work cut out to extend his winning streak.

Meanwhile, the FBI has formally confirmed it is investigating Hillary Clinton’s private emails, giving fuel to a controversy that the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination has been unable to put behind her.

In a letter dated February 2 that was made public on Monday, FBI General Counsel James Baker said the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server while she was secretary of state is “ongoing.”