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A night of remarkable comebacks in New Hampshire on Tuesday (January 8) sent the U.S. presidential hopefuls on their way with the race to the White House wide open. Former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who fought back tears in a New Hampshire cafe on Monday as her campaign looked set for a second defeat in a week, surprised all the pundits with a victory over Barack Obama in a close race. And John McCain, a 71-year-old whose second bid for the Oval Office was virtually written off last summer after weeks of poor fund raising, significant staff departures and falling poll numbers, stormed to victory for the Republicans early on Wednesday. New York senator Hillary Clinton, 60, said she had found her "own voice" after entering the primary with "a very, very full heart". She urged her supporters to "give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me". The more personal image of Hillary Clinton, who is often seen as a polarising figure in U.S. politics, worked well in New Hampshire and she vowed to build on her success. Obama, whose message of change and hope for America saw him leave the Iowa caucuses with the kind of momentum that led many to think he would win in New Hampshire, insisted he was "still fired up and ready to go". And with John Edwards a distant third, Hillary Clinton and Obama have strengthened their positions as the two Democratic front-runners in the run-up to the so-called Super Tuesday on February 5, when more than 20 states go to the polls. But the Republican contest is wide open, with McCain making a strong comeback, Mitt Romney coming second twice in one week and Rudy Giuliani's campaign yet to get under way in force. As he addressed supporters at his campaign headquarters in Nashua, New Hampshire, McCain said: "We celebrate one victory tonight and leave for Michigan tomorrow to win another." For Mitt Romney, who has spent millions of dollars of his own money in hopes of winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, a second second-place finish in five days will be a devastating blow. But he vowed to head to Michigan and "get the job done". He said: "I will strengthen America as your President when I come back here next November I will fight across this nation onto Michigan and South Carolina and Florida and Nevada and states after that." Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is choosing to concentrate on states which go to the polls later, and made little impact in either New Hampshire or Iowa. For the Republicans, the next stop on the campaign trail is the Michigan primary next Tuesday. But Democrats are shunning the state because the Democratic National Committee is angry that Michigan broke party rules by scheduling a primary before Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton is the only major Democratic contender to put her name on the ballot, and even she is not campaigning there. Instead, the Democrats head to the Nevada caucuses on January 19 and the South Carolina primary on January 26.