New Hampshire result clogs up moderate lane for Democrats

NASHUA, N.H. - Bernie Sanders may have established himself as the standard-bearer for the Democratic Party’s leftist wing with his strong showing in Iowa and New Hampshire, but for moderates looking to rally around a candidate to fend him off, the picture just got even murkier.

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, seemed well positioned to be the early favorite of the party’s moderates after his narrow win in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses - until a surge by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar largely split the moderate vote between them in New Hampshire.

And while former Vice President Joe Biden lagged badly in both Iowa and New Hampshire, as the only moderate with substantial backing from African-American and Latino voters, he has vowed to fight on until Nevada and South Carolina, both with significant non-white populations, render their verdicts.

The three are also bracing for the entry of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is skipping the early contests but has built an unprecedented self-funded campaign machine to compete in expensive states such as California and Texas, which vote in March.