When Hillary Clinton began her presidential campaign last year, no one would have anticipated she'd be forced to spin a New Hampshire primary loss to Bernie Sanders

But that's exactly what Clinton's campaign is doing on a night where the Associated Press projected a Sanders win just seconds after the polls closed. The Sanders New Hampshire win, said campaign manager Robby Mook in a memo, was "an outcome we've long anticipated."

Mook used the memo to make the case that March, not February, is what really matters when it comes to the Democratic nominating process. "While important," he writes, "the first four states represent just 4% of the delegates needed to secure the nomination."

With about 20 percent of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Sanders has an 18-point lead over Clinton. Clinton, by contrast, topped Sanders by just 0.3 percent in Iowa.

"Whereas the electorates in Iowa and New Hampshire are largely rural/suburban and predominantly white, the March states better reflect the true diversity of the Democratic Party and the nation," Mook writes. "Hispanics and African Americans play a critical role in who we are as a party and who we are as a nation." Both demographics will be much-better represented in the next two states where Sanders and Clinton will compete: South Carolina and Nevada.

While Sanders has far outpaced Clinton among younger voters – more than 80 percent of New Hampshire voters under 30 voted Sanders, according to exit polls – Clinton has maintained a steady firewall of support among black and Latino voters.

But while Clinton has demographics on her side, Sanders has online enthusiasm. The Sanders campaign is looking forward to March, as well, and has already sent out its first post-New Hampshire fundraising email. "There are 14 primaries and caucuses over the next three weeks," it says, "and you can be certain that our victory tonight will prompt a desperate response from the nation's financial elite and the political establishment...Who knows what they're going to throw at us next. All I know is we must be ready to respond, organize, and win."

The Sanders campaign previously told NPR that it could raise between $30 $40 million in the days following a New Hampshire win.

It's clear that after splitting the first two states, both states are now ready for an extended primary fight.

-- Scott Detrow, NPR