Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders hope to emerge from New Hampshire’s primary Tuesday with their first wins of the 2016 presidential election, victories that would lend needed credibility to the unexpected contenders’ pursuit of their parties’ nomination.
Trump leads a Republican field that has been in flux in the final days of campaigning across snowy New Hampshire. A rocky debate performance by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has jeopardized his chance to pull away from a trio of governors and firmly establish himself as the chief rival to Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
In the two-person race for the Democratic nomination, Sanders has held an advantage over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire for weeks. The state is friendly territory for the Vermont senator and a must-win if he’s to have a chance of staying competitive with Clinton as the race moves to more diverse states that are seen as more hospitable to the former secretary of state.
"We’re running a very radical campaign because we are telling the American people the truth and that’s something that is not often told in the political world," Sanders said Monday as he urged supporters to help him pull out a win. The senator finished second to Clinton in the leadoff Iowa caucuses by the narrowest of margins.
The enthusiasm behind Trump, a real estate mogul with who has never held political office, and Sanders, an avowed democratic socialist, underscore the public’s anger with the current political system. Even if neither candidate ultimately becomes their party’s nominee, those who do will have to reckon with the voter frustration they’ve tapped into.
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