Hillary Clinton conceded today that a rare moment of public emotion in a New Hampshire coffee shop had helped bring her back from the political dead.

The usually stoic former first lady said that the incident, in which she became teary as she discussed what drove her to keep fighting for the presidency, had afforded her a "connection" with New Hampshire voters that had propelled her to a 3 point victory in the state's primary over favourite Barack Obama.

“I had this incredible moment of connection with the voters of New Hampshire and they saw it and they heard it. And they gave me this incredible victory last night,” she said during an interview with CBS. Analysis of exit polls from New Hampshire showed that women voters, traditionally her most loyal supporters, flooded back after deserting her for Barack Obama in last week's Iowa caucuses. Mr Obama narrowly edged Mrs Clinton for the female vote in Iowa primary last week but yesterday she enjoyed a clear 13-point lead.

The critical moment came when Clinton was asked by how she kept going every day - "how do you keep so upbeat and so wonderful?"

A race like a crackpot Dynasty

The contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton matches any fiction

Multimedia

• Full coverage: US elections

BACKGROUND

• The ascent of Barack Obama, Mr Charisma

• Decay, jobs and guns fall under the spotlight

• Free trade: Clinton/Obama's mistakes

Related Links

• US commentators on the New Hampshire primary results

• Primaries: the ones to watch

• Tearful moment that proved a turning point

Multimedia

• Audio: US Editor's analysis of the results

• Video: how the pundits got it so wrong

“It’s not easy, and I could not do it if I just didn’t passionately believe it was the right thing to do,” she said, her voice catching. “This is very personal for me. It’s not just political. It’s not just public.”

Thirty-six years ago, the late Ed Muskie was widely reported to have wept while defending his wife from political attacks on the New Hampshire campaign trail, an incident seen as the moment when the Democrat's presidential campaign folded under pressure.

“This time, getting teary seemed to help, not doom a candidacy. A reverse Muskie moment,” the Chicago Tribune said in an analysis today. “Her narrow win was largely women’s work. She carried their votes decisively."

According to an MSNBC Democratic exit poll, women turned out to vote in greater numbers than men in New Hampshire. Fox News found that women voting Democrat preferred Mrs Clinton to Mr Obama by 47 to 34 per cent.

Stunned aides savouring Mrs Clinton’s victory credited the “humanising” effect of the coffee shop incident as well as her performance in Saturday’s candidate debate in which she passionately defended her own record in office against Mr Obama's "message of change".

“They watched that debate. I think they saw Hillary Clinton and she contrasted the records. And I think the humanising moment yesterday, I think that’s what did it,” the Clinton campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, told MSNBC.

Bill Clinton too credited the brief glimpse of his wife's vulnerable side for her unexpected win. "People saw who she was," he said.

Mrs Clinton's tough professional exterior has earned her a reputation in some quarters for being a cold and calculating politico, an image she has been trying to soften in recent weeks. At the Democratic debate in New Hampshire on Saturday, she revealed that she did not understand why she was not likeable and that it was a perception she found hurtful.

"Things started to change Saturday night at the debate," an ebullient Mr Clinton said. "And then she just went out and essentially gave her heart to the people of New Hampshire. She didn't ask me anything, talk about anything, say, 'Here's why I'm doing it', and they came back, they turned."

In a Fox News interview, Mr Obama put a brave face on his defeat, pointing that he had been trailing by as much as 20 points in New Hampshire as recently as two months ago and he remained in a strong position.

"This is a high-stakes election and I don't think voters are going to let any candidate take anything for granted," he said. "They want to lift the hood and kick the tyres."

Tabloids in New York, where Mrs Clinton serves as senator, plastered shots of her laughing face on the front page with headlines, 'Who’s Crying Now?' in the New York Daily News and, 'Back From the Dead' in the New York Post.

The former senator John Edwards, second in Iowa, finished third among Democrats, but vowed to stay in the race to the end.

In the Republican race, veteran campaigner Senator John McCain beat the former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as well as Mike Huckabee, the ordained Baptist who won in the Iowa caucus.

Mr McCain, 71, who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, led with 37 percent of the vote with most of the results in.

“My friends, you know, I’m past the age when I can claim the noun ’kid,’ no matter what adjective precedes it. But tonight, we sure showed them what a comeback looks like,” said Mr McCain, as supporters roared their approval, chanting “The Mac is Back".

The battle will be especially fierce among the Republicans in Michigan, where Mr Romney will be under intense pressure to pull off a surprise. Mr McCain won in Michigan during his failed presidential bid in 2000, but Mr Romney grew up there as the son of a former state governor, while Mr Huckabee will look to make inroads with the state’s evangelical Christians.

Times Recommends

• 'New York has lost its edge'
• Copenhagen will fail – and quite right too
• More than 17,000 new underwater species found