Campaign directors start revving up supporters for their candidates

The day after the New Hampshire primary thoroughly scrambled the presidential race, four of the candidates jostled for attention in Minnesota, where the campaign arrives on Feb. 5.

Simultaneously Wednesday morning, Minnesota supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney held news conferences to spin the New Hampshire results and predict victory in the precinct caucuses that will be held in 25 days. Several campaigns predicted visits by their candidates.

Meanwhile, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, John McCain's highest-profile Minnesota backer, hailed the Arizona senator's comeback win in New Hampshire and said he may soon hit the trail again on McCain's behalf.

"For a person who was written off for dead a few months ago you've got to tip your cap to Senator McCain," Pawlenty said. "He's shown amazing resilience and steadfastness in his campaign to become president. I think he's a strong and courageous leader, people like him because he's a straight shooter and he's less full of you-know-what than other politicians."

Pawlenty said there is likely to be a limited McCain presence in Minnesota, largely because Minnesota's Republican caucuses are non-binding and delegates to the national convention aren't selected until the spring.

Pawlenty said he tentatively planned to campaign for McCain this weekend in Michigan, which will be the next stop in the campaign when the state holds its primary next Tuesday.

Across the state, McCain's supporters were ecstatic over his win. This could have a tremendous ripple effect," said St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis. "He's a tremendously principled candidate with an independent, maverick streak, and this shows he can win."

Clintons, Obama may come

Clinton's backers were equally giddy on the heels of the New York senator's come-from-behind victory Tuesday night.

"We'll have an extremely deep, far and wide campaign here in Minnesota," said Buck Humphrey, Clinton's newly named state director, as he opened the candidate's campaign headquarters just outside downtown Minneapolis.

The news conference included several of Clinton's most prominent Minnesota supporters, including former Sen. Mark Dayton, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner.

"She really connected with the people of New Hampshire, and it's important we repeat this in Minnesota," Kelliher said.

Added Coleman, "A funny thing happened on the way to the coronation [of Obama] -- we had an election. I want to thank the people of New Hampshire, who gave Minnesotans a chance to weigh in on who will be our next president."

Humphrey, who said the campaign has an e-mail list of 2,500 supporters, said both Clinton and her husband are likely to campaign in Minnesota before the caucuses.

Obama's campaign countered with a State Capitol news conference that featured U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum and other elected officials who favor the Illinois senator.

Obama's supporters gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday armed with a new endorsement: the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, which has 340,000 members nationwide and 9,000 in Minnesota. The union's Minnesota president, Tom Hanson, said that pipefitters had a long history with Obama and had worked with him on wage and safety issues. "The country needs a change," he said. "Working people need a change. Our union needs a change."

McCollum said the campaign should be credited for whittling down what had been a substantial and persistent lead in New Hampshire for Clinton only a few weeks ago. Chris Miller, statewide director for Obama, said the campaign has already contacted 25,000 potential voters and held 60 caucus training sessions and would continue to work for a good showing on Feb. 5. Miller said Obama may appear in Minnesota before then, but did not say when.

Romney ready for a 'slog'

Mitt Romney's day-after Minnesota update came in the form of a conference call featuring Republican activist Brian Sullivan, who is serving as the former Massachusetts governor's state co-chair.

"I'm not discouraged in the least; it's not going to be an easy contest," Sullivan said. "What is becoming clear is that this campaign isn't headed toward a knockout. It's going to be a slog. So the guy that can get the broadest support over a wide range of primaries, and all the quirks that each of those primaries has, is the guy who is going to be left standing. And I think that will be Romney."

Sullivan said it is likely that Romney will visit Minnesota sometime between the Michigan primary and the Minnesota caucuses.

Staff writers Curt Brown, Mark Brunswick, Pat Lopez and Pat Doyle contributed to this report. Bob von Sternberg • 612-673-7184