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title: Morning Must Reads: February 9
description: Morning Must Reads: February 9
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author: Zeke Miller
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article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:41:07.530Z
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# What to Watch for in New Hampshire

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WQuMJswt.m3u8" -->
## Video: 12 Hours on the Campaign Trail

[Watch (HLS stream): 12 Hours on the Campaign Trail](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WQuMJswt.m3u8) (3:58)

![12 Hours on the Campaign Trail](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WQuMJswt/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2016-02-07. Across New Hampshire, candidates are engaging in the kind of retail politics that is only possible in a small state: attending luncheons and speaking at town halls, shaking voters’ hands in restaurants, and taking hundreds of selfies._


by 

[Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/)


## Zeke Miller


Feb 9, 2016 2:55 PM UTC

Across New Hampshire, candidates are engaging in the kind of retail politics that is only possible in a small state: attending luncheons and speaking at town halls, shaking voters’ hands in restaurants, and taking hundreds of selfies. 

by 

[Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/)


## Zeke Miller


Feb 9, 2016 2:55 PM UTC

Happy New Hampshire Primary Day.

More than 20 percent of Granite State voters woke up Tuesday unsure of whom they would vote for—one of the two mysteries of primary day. Polling is of little help determining what the mountain of undecideds, as well as the state’s independents, the largest bloc of voters who can vote in either primary, will do. Some divergent theories:

A tightening Democratic race and strong ground game by the **Hillary Clinton** will bring keep Democratic-leaning independents in that primary, helping her narrow the gap of expected defeat to **Bernie Sanders**. Or the opposite many be true, and independents will skip out for the Republican primary boosting **John Kasich**. Will undecideds voting in the GOP primary break for Bush—a person with the famous last name who they’ve shunned so far—or for Kasich, whose optimism is unique in the field, or for **Marco Rubio** or even **Chris Christie?** **Donald Trump** is expected to win, but undecideds won’t move his way, because most voters either love or hate the bombastic candidate. Or maybe they will, in their desire to vote for a winner.

These are just a fraction of the possible storylines running through today’s election and the only certainty will come as the polls close. Expectations are for clear Sanders and Trump wins, but by lower margins than the final public polls suggest, with a muddled race for second place on the GOP side that could include four or five candidates. Two of the three governors—at least—are all-but-certain to move their campaigns to South Carolina, and Christie might if he proves his assault on Rubio in Saturday’s debate was more murder than murder-suicide. The establishment, which had been looking to coalesce around a non-Trump, non-**Ted Cruz** candidate after today will have to wait at least a week until South Carolina votes on Feb. 20\. For Clinton, it will be a case of managing defeat and internal drama to avoid the pitfalls of 2008 once again.

After weeks of debating whether to cast Sanders as an uncompromising ideologue or an inconsistent hypocrite, the Clinton campaign has decided on the latter strategy, beginning a series of stinging character attacks on the Vermont Senator. The shift comes as Clinton’s pragmatic electability pitch to Democratic voters has failed to inspire much support, leading to a close finish in Iowa and expected loss in New Hampshire.


Christie is promised, but doesn’t receive, a check from a top Romney backer. Rubio awkwardly [repeats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBX0Z1MkDyQ) another line. And Trump repeats an offensive term about Ted Cruz.

Here are your must-reads:

**Must Reads**

[Hillary Clinton and Her Allies Are Starting to Openly Question Bernie Sanders’ Integrity ](http://time.com/4213441/new-hampshire-primary-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/)TIME’s Sam Frizell on the campaign’s decision to brand Sanders as a hypocrite, rather than an ideologue

[How Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Can Lose by Winning ](http://time.com/4213186/new-hampshire-primary-predictions/)What TIME’s Joe Klein learned ahead of Tuesday’s primary

[Clinton to ‘Take Stock’ of Campaign Post New Hampshire ](http://time.com/4213219/hillary-clinton-new-hampshire-staff-shakeup/)TIME’s Jay Newton-Small on the latest drama in Clinton-land

[Donald Trump’s Latest Venture: Retail Politics ](http://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/)The poll leader is humbling himself, TIME’s Tessa Berenson reports

**Sound Off**

“For four days I was telling everyone what I was going to say. It wasn’t a great shock.” — Chris Christie on his debate exchange with Marco Rubio, arguing he should have been prepared


“Sometimes when I am on a stage like this, I wish that we weren’t married, then I could say what I really think. I don’t mean that in a negative way. I am happy.” — Bill Clinton stumping for his wife in New Hampshire

**Bits and Bites**

[How Bush Finally Landed a Punch on Trump](http://time.com/4212322/jeb-bush-donald-trump-eminent-domain/) \[TIME\]

[Madeleine Albright Defends Her Hillary Clinton Remarks](http://time.com/4212577/madeleine-albright-hillary-clinton-special-place-hell-defends/) \[TIME\]

[For Christie, a Donation From a Top Romney Adviser Offered But Not Delivered](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/08/two-top-romney-advisers-donated-to-christie-after-debate/) \[Washington Post\]

[Clinton Responds to Rumors About a Staff Shake-Up](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/clinton-responds-rumors-about-staff-shake) \[MSNBC\]

[Clinton: Sanders Accepted Wall Street Money Too, Indirectly](http://time.com/4212575/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-wall-street-donations/) \[TIME\]

[FBI: Clinton Email Probe ‘Ongoing’](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/hillary-clinton-emails-fbi-218973) \[Politico\]

[Michael Bloomberg Says He Is Eyeing 2016 Run for the White House](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/b6d1fc34-ce9f-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377.html#axzz3zc5ELpQB) \[FT\]

[Donald Trump Repeats Offensive Name for Ted Cruz at Rally](http://time.com/4213231/donald-trump-ted-cruz-offensive-name/) \[TIME\]

[Donald Trump’s Son Compares Waterboarding to Frat Parties](http://time.com/4213484/donald-trump-eric-waterboarding-defense/) \[TIME\]

[Trump: ‘Every Single’ Person Obama Released Will Sell Drugs Again](http://time.com/4212699/trump-every-single-person-obama-released-will-sell-drugs-again/) \[TIME\]


## Transcript

[00:00] [ MUSIC ]
[00:11] Theres just a few days left until the primary. So here in
[00:15] New Hampshire all the candidates are hosting events
[00:19] 30 minutes, maybe 10, 15 minutes away from each
[00:21] other Throughout the day. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Okay. Kind
[00:21] of crazy stairs. The camera lady should be
[00:32] careful. Ask yourselves this.
[00:37] How many presidential elections have you heard the
[00:39] same things? We're gonna secure the border. We've
[00:43] been talking about that for 25 years, folks. We're
[00:46] gonna reform the tax code. We're gonna reform social
[00:49] security. We're gonna care for our veterans. Has any of
[00:52] that happened in the last 40 years? No. When
[00:57] we began our campaign, there were a lot of media
[01:01] pundits who were commenting on my hair. [ LAUGH ]
[01:07] [ INAUDIBLE ] A lot has changed in the last nine
[01:12] months. Is it fair that we have more
[01:16] income and wealth inequality than any major country
[01:17] on Earth today? Why is that? [ APPLAUSE ] [ INAUDIBLE ]
[01:17] [ INAUDIBLE ] [ APPLAUSE ] Sometimes run into people
[01:20] who say I'm trying to make
[01:29] up my mind between you and Senator Sanders.
[01:33] Sometimes they have a specific question, but
[01:35] sometimes they said, well, it's kinda between my heart
[01:35] and my head. I said, well I can solve that for
[01:39] you. What motivates me everyday is
[01:44] what's in my heart. [ APPLAUSE ] I wanna say a word to
[01:47] the extraordinary People particularly young people
[01:52] who are supporting Senator Sanders. I know you may
[01:55] not be for me now, but I am for you and I << will work
[01:57] hard. [ MUSIC ] [ CROSSTALK ] Whoo. Whoo.
[01:57] [ UNKNOWN ] How are you? Good to see you
[01:57] [ UNKNOWN ]. Good to see you. [ CROSSTALK ]
[02:16] We really wanted to come by cause [ UNKNOWN ] was
[02:17] the place where we kicked off our campaign in June.
[02:21] On the day that we announced we left New Jersey
[02:23] came right to New Hampshire and did our first town
[02:25] hall meeting. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank
[02:28] you. You enjoyed it up here right? Yes we did. We just
[02:31] left the Christi event and it only lasted 15 minutes. It
[02:34] was definitely the shortest event of the day.
[02:35] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Over and
[02:40] over again, when we face impossible odds, the
[02:44] American people rose to the challenge.
[02:48] Everyone's here tonight because we recognize our
[02:50] country's in crisis. We're bankrupting our kids and
[02:53] grandkids. Our Constitutional rights are under assault
[02:56] each and every day. And America has receded from
[02:59] leadership in the world and it has made the world a
[03:02] much more dangerous place. The stakes in this
[03:06] election could not be higher. [ NOISE ] If we wake up
[03:10] on, what is it, the first Wednesday in November,
[03:11] maybe it's the second Wednesday in November, to the
[03:13] news that Bernie Sanders is the president of the United
[03:14] States. Or to the news that Hilary Clinton is
[03:21] the president of the United States. [ NOISE ] You
[03:25] like her less than Bernie. [ LAUGH ] If you nominate
[03:29] me, I will unify this party. We can't win unless we're
[03:29] together and the Democrats would love nothing more
[03:36] than to have us fighting against each other for the next
[03:38] six months. I will unify the conservative movement, if
[03:40] I'm our nominee. [ APPLAUSE ]. [ MUSIC ]. Take care
[03:40] buddy. [ UNKNOWN ]

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