Chuck Todd: "This time, second place doesn't make you the Comeback Kid"

MANCHESTER, NH -- By finishing second here in 1992, Bill Clinton earned the nickname “the Comeback Kid.” Ironically, if his wife today finishes second in New Hampshire -- a position where almost every poll shows her to be -- that could (and we stress the word could) be the beginning of the end of her presidential candidacy. Of course, she could (and we once again stress could) still pull off winning the Democratic nomination, even if she comes up short (particularly since the burden of expectations has shifted toward Obama). But if she can't win one state (where she campaigned vigorously, shipped most of her campaign aides, and had powerful groups, like AFSCME, AFT, and Emily's List helping her) or another (which her campaign had always considered her firewall), then it becomes a legitimate question to ask which states she can win -- especially as Obam-mentum grows and grows? It's true that Bill didn't finally win a state in '92 until well after Iowa and New Hampshire. But that was because native sons or neighbors of those states (Harkin, Tsongas, and Kerrey) were in the field. This time, second place doesn’t make you the Comeback Kid. It doesn’t even win you a set of steak knives…