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What We Learned From New Hampshire

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Trump passed a big test in New Hampshire but he’ll face a bigger one in South Carolina. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Donald Trump and Sen. Bernard Sanders scored big wins in New Hampshire but the campaign for each party’s nomination turns south and west, where the real race begins, according to political analysts and strategists Roll Call asked to analyze the Tuesday’s results.

Here are their takes on what happened on Tuesday and what will happen next in South Carolina and Nevada:

Sending a message: “Donald Trump’s blowout win is what happens when a candidate doesn’t face a sustained attack from his opponents. But Trump has also aligned himself with some very real, populist resentment out there and brought together some Republicans and independents to send a message.

“Sanders is filling this void in a leftward-drifting Democratic Party whose voters seem to be pining for an authentic liberal who can be a warrior for a progressive agenda. Hillary Clinton is trying to appeal to their head, while Sanders has found a way to their heart.”

— Kevin Madden, partner at Hamilton Place Strategies and former national press secretary and senior communications strategist for Mitt Romney’s campaign and former campaign spokesman for George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign.

Roll Call’s Primary Calendar

Size matters: “The size of Sanders victory does matter. You get 60 percent in any race, it is a big victory which cannot be spun otherwise. He will have momentum.

“It forces the Clinton campaign to assess their strategy, message and tactics, and do it in a hurry.”

— Rick Ridder, a longtime Democratic consultant who was a member of Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, managed Howard Dean’s campaign in 2004 and served as Arizona field director for Hillary Clinton in 2007.

Game on: “These first two contests are great episodes of reality TV but voters around the country (and especially in the South) couldn’t care less about results of Iowa and New Hampshire.

“The real race to the nomination starts now.”

— Morgan Jackson, a Democratic consultant in North Carolina.

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