Obama Carries Momentum to N.H.

Video

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.

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

"He's the incumbent. He's running for reelection," quipped Tom Rath, a senior Romney strategist in New Hampshire.

If Romney loses to McCain, his advisers will argue that the GOP field remains splintered. They note that former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has performed poorly as he waits for the campaign to arrive in Florida on Jan. 29, and they say neither Huckabee nor McCain has demonstrated broad appeal.

"We're the only guy who has competed everyplace," Rath said. "We won Wyoming. . . . We have been highly competitive in Iowa and New Hampshire. That's not a bad body of work."

That argument is contrary to months of spin from the Romney campaign, which had said victories in the early-voting states would spark momentum for the candidate that would be impossible to stop. But the campaign has little choice now that Huckabee has won Iowa and McCain is surging here.

On Wednesday, Romney and McCain will fly to Michigan, a state that both think they might win. Romney has been running television ads there for weeks, and his father was once governor. McCain won the state during his 2000 bid for office, riding a wave of enthusiasm from his victory in New Hampshire. The Michigan primary is on Jan. 15, just a week after New Hampshire votes.

Staff writers Juliet Eilperin, Perry Bacon Jr. and Shailagh Murray contributed to this report.