N.H., Iowa Keep the Candidates' Attention

So far this year, Clinton and Obama aides estimate that they each have New Hampshire teams with about 70 paid workers; a spokeswoman for former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) described his campaign's New Hampshire operation as having between 60 and 70 salaried employees -- about four times as many as he had on the ground four years ago. And they are spread out across the state.

At Clinton's Plymouth office last week, a field organizer watched over four college-age men seated at desks, tapping away on their laptop computers and calling up potential supporters. Clinton's investment in such a large operation in the town is a surprise to Carole J. Estes, a first-term state representative. "We're just so small," Estes said. "I figured, maybe they were using this as a base to cover the north country."

But Clinton has the state's rural northern reaches covered from two other nearby field offices, in Conway (population 8,164) and Berlin (10,331).

A Clinton strategist who has worked on previous New Hampshire presidential campaigns acknowledged that establishing outposts in so many towns represents a shift in tactics here. In past years, campaigns concentrated their operations in such population centers as Manchester, Concord, Nashua and Keene, but in a contest in which fewer than 250,000 voters turned out for the Democratic contest in 2004, turning out new voters may well prove to be decisive. "This year we looked beyond the traditional framework and tried to find emerging Democratic areas," the strategist said.

Ned Helms, an Obama adviser who is working on his 10th New Hampshire primary, said the field offices have helped transform campaigning in the state. "These aren't just places to put signs in the windows," he said. "They are a part of an outreach strategy."

When Obama volunteers call voters in Berlin, Helms said, they can say, "Hey, I'm over on Elm Street. We're having a gathering to talk about health care here this weekend. Why don't you come on by?"

The field workers also spend hours on the phone, with designated call times every night and long lists of possible supporters. Dawn Lemieux, 49, owns the Plymouth print shop next door to Clinton's field office. She says she gets calls "constantly" from all the candidates. She is a registered independent and remains undecided.

"I'm impressed at how much is going into getting our votes, but I'm not sure how well it's all working," Lemieux said. "Most folks in New Hampshire don't like to be buttonholed."

Database editor Sarah Cohen, research editor Alice Crites and staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.