Former frontrunners project confidence after Iowa upsets

Despite surprise losses in yesterday’s Iowa caucuses, the campaigns of both N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney expressed confidence in their prospects for winning their party’s respective nominations today, both hosting post-Iowa conference calls with an eye to the other early-voting states.

“We have twenty-six more contests coming up” by Feb. 5, said Terry McAuliffe, former DNC Chair and Clinton’s national campaign chairman. 

“One huge advantage that we have in the Clinton campaign is that from day one, we were going to run a national campaign.”  McAuliffe cited fundraising numbers over $100 million and an organizational presence in all twenty seven Super Tuesday or earlier states for support.

Clinton’s Nevada campaign chair, Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, was likewise unruffled by the Iowa results, pointing instead to the “thousands and thousands of committed and very active supporters who work full-time jobs, but make calls, knock-on doors and host meetings every day for Hillary.  They’re incredibly dedicated people.”

Also providing upbeat reports of the campaign’s progress in their states were former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party Kathy Sullivan, former DNC Chair and South Carolinian Don Fowler and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Due to a scheduling error, former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn did not host a scheduled press conference call with Nevada reporters today on behalf of former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.  His place was filled instead by longtime Nevada political consultant and Romney Senior Advisor Ryan Erwin.  Erwin was similarly upbeat about his candidate’s prospects, even jokingly stating that Guinn’s absence was due to a last-minute defection.

“Yesterday was the beginning of a long marathon,” Erwin said, mirroring the rhetoric from the Clinton campaign.  Erwin also pointed to Romney’s organizational strength and competitiveness in the other early-voting states.

“Gov. Romney is the only candidate in this process who is competitive in every one of the early states,” said Erwin.  “A sustained presence of being competitive and winning in some of these early states is far more important than the bounce you’ll get from one of these states singularly.”

Both campaigns will face steep challenges in the weeks ahead. 

Clinton’s campaign, which had all-too recently been dubbed inevitable, will next have to beat back Ill. Sen. Barack Obama’s momentum going into New Hampshire’s Jan. 8 primary.  Polls in New Hampshire have shown Clinton consistently leading Obama by single-digits, but that lead may be up in the air after Obama’s Iowa victory.

Romney’s challenge will be different going into New Hampshire, as former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee, whose recent surge led him to a win in Iowa, is less threatening than Ariz. Sen. John McCain’s recent resurgence.  McCain, whose campaign had been virtually written off by most of the national media last summer, has seen his polling numbers in New Hampshire skyrocket in the last three weeks and now leads Romney in most New Hampshire polls.