ALBANY - Of all the surprises in New York's primary on Tuesday - from Barack Obama's surge to Mike Huckabee's rise - the biggest shocker was a byproduct: Democracy broke out.

Thank New York party bosses and the state Legislature for giving New York voters a chance of mattering in the presidential primary season this year.

And voters responded - loudly.

More than 33 percent of Democrats voted and 20 percent of Republicans voted. Most New York primaries have had turnouts in the teens, and were too late to make much of a difference in the national race. Even in 2000, just 19 percent of New York Democrats and 22.5 percent of Republicans came out in what would become the historically close George Bush-Al Gore election.

But democracy wasn't the first thought on party leaders' minds a year ago when they moved up New York's primary by a month to be part of the 24-state Super Tuesday, before any candidate had a lock on a nomination.

Eleven months ago, the Legislature overwhelmingly voted to move the 2008 primary with just two people in mind: Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton. Lawmakers figured the sure New York win for the pair of New Yorkers would give them a boost to the White House when they needed it most - early.

Giuliani and Clinton, at the time, were clear favorites for their party's nomination and loved the idea.

Here's the irony:

Despite broad name recognition, support from just about every elected official and a built-in campaign structure in every county in the state, Clinton went from being the inevitable Democratic nominee to fighting to avoid embarrassment in her backyard.

She did. But just.

Obama, the first-term senator from Illinois, took reliable Clinton votes in Brooklyn and upstate college towns and even won Tompkins County, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College. He also won outright three congressional districts.

Clinton's 17-point win on Super Tuesday also led to the inevitable comparison to the matchup on Obama's turf in Illinois. There, in one of three home states Clinton claims (Arkansas is the other), she was trounced.

In the end, Obama took more than a moral victory. He took a lot of New York delegates: 93 out of 232 available.

Republicans leaders, hoping Giuliani at the top of the ballot in November would protect a narrow Republican majority in the state Senate, felt the sting of irony, too.

Instead of getting the boost they expected for Giuliani, the former New York City mayor dropped out a few weeks before the New York primary, leaving New York's considerable support and 101 delegates for Arizona Sen. John McCain.

McCain is the guy New York's GOP bosses tried hard to keep off the New York primary ballot in 2000. But the former Vietnam POW fought back famously then, once by standing on the steps of the Russian consulate in New York City to denounce the New York GOP's tactics as “Stalinist politics.” The party eventually backed down, in court.

It gets better. Republican voters on Tuesday also gave former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee a surprising showing in a big northeast state. The man backed by evangelical Christian leaders pulled 11 percent of the vote with little or no troops in the state known for its moderate to liberal leanings, and its very separate church and state, even within much of the GOP.

So who won on Tuesday?

Clinton may use her New York primary experience to appeal more to - or regain - black, urban and more liberal Democrats. She understands Obama's attraction as an outsider, with little real experience, and a flair for rousing generalities over specifics. After all, Clinton was that candidate eight years ago when she first ran for Senate.

Meanwhile, New York's Republican leadership has united behind McCain, after two January polls showed the state's Republican voters were already there.

But the clear winners Tuesday were New York primary voters who, given the chance, spoke loudly without regard to what the parties' leaders wanted to hear.

Interesting idea, this democracy thing.