Obama Carries Momentum to N.H.

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First Voters in New Hampshire Cast Ballots

Two tiny towns in the northern most region of New Hampshire gathered just after midnight to cast the first votes of the nation's first presidential primary. It's a tradition that has gone on since the 1960's.

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With her prospects questionable in South Carolina's Jan. 26 contest and the powerful culinary union in Nevada, which will host a Jan. 19 caucus, expected to endorse Obama as early as Wednesday, the former front-runner will have to attempt a revival on Feb. 5, when 23 states including New York, New Jersey and California will vote. Her advisers said that if there is to be a housecleaning on her staff, it would be likely to come after the anticipated New Hampshire loss.

Obama appeared to gain even more momentum in his final day on the campaign trail here. At the event in Lebanon where he made the "wave" comment, an overflow crowd of 500 gathered at the entrance to the opera house as he spoke inside before a packed crowd of 750.

"We are happy warriors for change," Obama exclaimed, grinning widely as the crowd roared. "We are cheerful about the prospects of taking over."

But, like Clinton, Obama is already a candidate in transition, looking ahead to Nevada, South Carolina and what both campaigns anticipate will be a final showdown on Feb. 5.

Aides scheduled a New York City fundraiser and a stop in South Carolina for Obama later in the week and sought to block off a two-day window for the candidate to rest in Chicago.

The Obama team is increasingly optimistic about its position in South Carolina. It believes that its ground organization is far superior to Clinton's and that black voters' doubts about Obama's electability are fading as he racks up decisive victories in overwhelmingly white states.

Obama addressed the concerns of black voters in an interview with Roland S. Martin, a black radio host from Chicago, recorded Friday, the day after the Iowa caucuses. "If there's any African American voter out there who still thinks that whites won't vote for me, they just need to read the papers from this morning," Obama told Martin.

On the Republican side, McCain held seven outdoor rallies in New Hampshire where he offered brief but intense speeches as enthusiastic crowds yelled, "Mac is Back!"

"I want to be president not to ride around in a helicopter," he told a crowd in Concord. "I want to do the hard things."

McCain aides said they believe he will win, but they conceded that the outcome will be close, especially if most independents choose to vote in the Democratic primary. McCain is strong among independents, but Obama is also expected to draw strongly from that group, and that could hurt McCain in what is expected to be a one-on-one contest with Romney.

At an early-evening rally in downtown Manchester, McCain vowed to veto pork-barrel projects, fix Social Security, clean up the planet and follow Osama bin Laden "to the gates of hell." He also vowed that the United States will never give up in the fight against terrorism, but his comments sounded like they were about his campaign as well. "We will never surrender. We will never surrender," he yelled. "They will."

Like the Clinton camp, Romney aides prepared for a loss here and vowed that the former governor will soldier on regardless of his showing against McCain, whom they described as the clear front-runner in a state he won in 2000.