MICHEL NORRIS, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
I'm Robert Siegel.
And where else to begin the hour, but with politics and the race for the presidential nominations. There is one casualty today. It looks like Ne Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will dropping out of the Democratic race. He lagged behind in fourth place in both the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. For the remaining candidates on both the Democratic and Republican sides, the race remains wide open.
Coming up, we'll talk strategy with our regular political observers, but first, the outlook for the Republican race. Arizona Senator John McCain is hoping to build on his success last night in New Hampshire. He took his revitalized campaign to Michigan today before heading on to South Carolina. Both states hold Republican contests in the next ten days.
Here's NPR's Scott Horsley.
SCOTT HORSLEY: John McCain hosted a boisterous airport rally in Grand Rapids this morning, complete with confetti and red, white and blue streamers. It came just 13 hours after he declared victory in the New Hampshire primary. McCain hopes that momentum will carry him forward during a flurry of nominating contest over the next week and a half.
Senator JOHN McCAIN (Republican, Arizona; Presidential Candidate): The next victory has got to be right here in the state of Michigan. We won New Hampshire. We'll win Michigan. We'll win South Carolina. We will win the nomination. And I will be the next president of the United States — with your help.
(Soundbite of crowd)
Sen. McCAIN: With your help.
HORSLEY: McCain won the Michigan primary eight years ago. But this year, his Republican rival Mitt Romney has strong family ties to the state where he grew up and where his father was a popular three-term governor.
Romney suffered a disappointing second-place finish in yesterday's New Hampshire primary despite having served as governor of neighboring Massachusetts. But the multi-millionaire, former businessman insists he has the money and determination to keep going.
Mr. MITT ROMNEY (Former Republican Governor, Massachusetts; Presidential Candidate): For Michigan, we're going to go on: South Carolina, Nevada, Florida, states across the nation. And I'm going to keep on racking up the fact that we're going to get more votes than anybody else running for Republican -the Republican nomination. And I'm ultimately going to become the nominee for president for the Republican Party.
(Soundbite of crowd)
HORSLEY: Romney has tried to paint McCain as a Washington insider, ill-prepared to deliver the kind of change many voters seem to be seeking. In New Hampshire, though, the 71-year-old senator managed to score points for experience without being burdened by his D.C. credentials.
Sen. McCAIN: I didn't go to Washington to go along to get along or to play it safe to serve my own interests. I went there to serve my country.
(Soundbite of cheering)
HORSLEY: In Michigan, McCain is stressing the economy, along with national security. Exit polls in New Hampshire show McCain did well with voters who think the economy is in trouble, and Michigan has been hard-hit by job losses in the manufacturing sector.
Sen. McCAIN: Now, my friends, the reason why I just won that election yesterday in New Hampshire is I went to the people of New Hampshire to tell them the truth. Sometimes I told them what they wanted to know. Sometimes I told them what they didn't want to know. And I've got to give you some straight talk. My friends, some of the jobs that have left the state of Michigan are not coming back.
HORSLEY: McCain promised to create a job-retraining program centered around community colleges to replace existing federal programs that he says don't work.
Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee will also be campaigning in Michigan. But he's likely to be a more formidable candidate in South Carolina. Evangelical Christians are a significant political force there, as they were in Iowa.
Even so, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham expects voters in his state will respond well to McCain's military background and his support for the war in Iraq. Graham said last night, none of that would have mattered had McCain not won in New Hampshire.
Senator LINDSEY GRAHAM (Republican, South Carolina): This win put him back in the viability category. That was what's missing, people like John — his experience, his message. But he had to prove to them that he was viable, and he did it tonight.
HORSLEY: Aides say McCain's win in New Hampshire has also given a boost to fundraising — a welcome relief for a campaign that was virtually broke six months ago.
McCain now has money for TV ads in both Michigan and South Carolina. And the candidate who could barely afford a tour bus last summer now has a chartered 737, paid for through the giant multi-state nominating contest on February 5th.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Pontiac, Michigan.