Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… Heading into tonight’s high-stakes New Hampshire primary, political reporters found themselves asking not who would surprise in the first-in-the nation primary, but whether or not you can say *that” word on television, courtesy of Donald J. Trump.
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‘16 from 30,000
It’s still early, but we’re starting to get some exit poll data that gives us a sense of some of the interesting dynamics going on here in New Hampshire. Here’s a number that stuck out to us: Bernie Sanders is besting Hillary Clinton with Democrats when it comes to hitting the ideological sweet spot. About seven in ten say that they think Sanders’ positions on the issues are “about right,” while closer to half -- 55 percent -- say the same of Clinton. About a third - 34 percent - think Clinton is “not liberal enough,” while about a quarter - 26 percent - say the self-described democratic socialist is “too liberal.”
You can follow along with all the latest developments all night long at our live blog here: So click and get all the latest until the winners and losers are written in the history books.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
- Follow Live! NBC Politics live blog is firing on all cylinders.
- Along with voters, presidential hopefuls also went to the polls on Tuesday.
- Chris Christie’s once promising White House hopes are in danger of hitting an insurmountable roadblock tonight, one of us writes.
- John Kasich will soon find out if his unscripted, off-the-cuff style resonated with New Hampshire voters, NBC’s Kailani Koenig reports.
- MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin and Alex Seitz-Wald report on how Democrats plan to stump Trump.
- Trump finally put a price on that wall Mexico is going to pay for -- $8 million.
- In today’s Tales from the Trail: New Hampshire focused candidates say goodbye.
- And from First Read: Here’s what Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have in common.
FOR THE RECORD…
“It was like a retweet.”
Donald Trump explaining his decision to repeat that word he used at a rally Monday evening.
TOMORROW’S SKED
The Republican presidential candidates move on to South Carolina with Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Bush, Kasich and Christie all having scheduled events in the state.