His spontaneity was limited to hand-shaking and his speeches were multiple variations on his original declaration speech from the early summer. Many voters admitted they disagreed with some of his positions, against abortion for instance, but their confidence in him outweighed such misgivings.Alongside Mr McCain, Mr Bush came across as charming, but weak and immature. Mr McCain attracted the bulk of independent votes, many of the notoriously fickle under-30 voters, and Democrats who switched party allegiance.Mr McCain's personal history as a military hero, his readiness to take on the allpowerful Washington establishment and the great and the good of the Republican Party all contributed to his appeal.But it was the directness and truthfulness of his responses that took New Hampshire by storm. This argument, however, disregards the record of New Hampshire voters for giving future winners their first break. Establishment Republicans expected to follow the party line and vote for Mr Bush were split evenly. The great national crusade has just begun." Mr Bush gave a gracious concession speech but he explained his defeat by the shorter time he had spent in New Hampshire and the singularity of the state of New Hampshire and its voters.He implied that the qualities that had won Mr McCain New Hampshire would not translate on to a national stage. In his victory speech he paid tribute to the reception he had received from New Hampshire's famously independent voters, and concentrated on the theme he had placed at the centre of his campaign - "the Washington iron triangle of money, lobbyists and legislation, which for so long has put special interests above the national interest".He said it was "the beginning of the end for the truth-twisting politics of Bill Clinton and Al Gore", and concluded: "Our wonderful New Hampshire campaign has come to an end.

We finally have a poll without a margin of error." The Senator from Arizona had held 114 question-and-answer meetings in six months of campaigning in New Hampshire, and it was reckoned that one in four voters had seen him in person by election day.He held his final such meeting on Sunday, in the town of Peterborough, where he also held his first, attracting more than 1,000 people, in contrast to the 40 who had turned up in the summer. His trouncing of the establishment favourite and victor in Iowa, George Bush Snr, became the springboard for his successful national campaign. Voters, the local Concord paper said yesterday, had "rushed to Reagan like iron filings to a magnet" in the final week of the New Hampshire campaign.They did much the same for Mr McCain.After his win, Mr McCain alluded to the straight-talking strategy that had brought him such success, greeting cheering fans: "Welcome to my 115th meeting. The South Carolina primary, which takes place on 19 February, is seen as the next crucial test for Mr McCain because the state has a record of strong support for Mr Bush's father, the former president George Bush.In New Hampshire yesterday, Mr McCain's victory was compared to Ronald Reagan's in 1980. His 18-point victory over the front-runner for the Republican Party's nomination opened the race and made Mr Bush look vulnerable for the first time. After celebrating at his New Hampshire headquarters, Mr McCain flew directly to South Carolina, where more than 800 supporters held an impromptu rally in his honour at 2am. A triumphant Senator John McCain stormed back on to the presidential campaign trail yesterday after easily defeating the Governor of Texas, George W Bush, in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. His 18-point victory over the front-runner for the Republican Party's nomination opened the race and made Mr Bush look vulnerable for the first time.

He has strong support in New York and California, and has been successful in raising funds there.His camp will also be hoping that the strength of the antiestablishment vote in NewHampshire will encourage like-minded people elsewhere to support his reformist message. He advocates political finance reform, integrity in government and rapid moves to universal health insurance - shifts that the Gore camp argues are not feasible.. A triumphant Senator John McCain stormed back on to the presidential campaign trail yesterday after easily defeating the Governor of Texas, George W Bush, in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. He was due to resume his campaign swing through New York, Ohio and California later in the day.While Mr Gore savoured his victory, speaking of his "excitement" at becoming the first Democratic contender in 20 years to win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, his four-point margin in New Hampshire was not the reward he had hoped for after a spirited and uncompromising fightback over the past month.He had hoped to kill the prospects of his challenger, the former senator and basketball star Bill Bradley, and force his early retreat, thereby saving time, money and above all party unity in the months to come.Mr Bradley treated the closeness of the verdict as tantamount to victory and vowed to fight on "to give the voters their say on 7 March". Within the hour, Mr Gore was diverted to Washington, where it was thought that his vice-presidential vote might be needed to break a possible tie on an abortion-related amendment to a bankruptcy law in the Senate. The choice of backdrop was the Gore camp's way of saying, 'New York, here we come!' For while the Republicans meet again in South Carolina in two weeks' time, and George W Bush will campaign also in the tiny state of Delaware before that, the next contest for the two Democrats is on 7 March, when more than a dozen states hold their presidential primaries, including the giants of California and New York.Even the best-laid plans go awry, however.

The choice of backdrop was the Gore camp's way of saying, 'New York, here we come!' Raring to capitalise on his win over Bill Bradley in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, Vice-President Al Gore was up early yesterday, announcing his imminent departure on a three-state campaign swing from Grand Central Station in New York. Law enforcement authorities have until now avoided using force.. Raring to capitalise on his win over Bill Bradley in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, Vice-President Al Gore was up early yesterday, announcing his imminent departure on a three-state campaign swing from Grand Central Station in New York. By midnight, 251 arrests had been made.The government denied reports that one student was killed but at least 37 people were injured. The university rector said two security guards who suffered head injuries were in a critical condition.More than 100 protests, computer seizures and university roadblocks have disrupted Mexico City since last April, but this was "the most dangerous and serious confrontation'', said a local government spokesman.Even though an overwhelming majority of students and professors voted last week to end a strike, negotiations broke down after a radical strike committee persisted with a lockout. They said they confiscated a stash of eight Molotov cocktails before any could be used.