KEY POINTS:
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - Led by Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain, candidates fanned out across the US today in a presidential race dramatically reshaped by their comeback wins in New Hampshire.
Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, defied the polls to narrowly upset Barack Obama in New Hampshire on Tuesday and set up a tough Democratic nominating battle that now heads to South Carolina and Nevada.
The 71-year-old McCain's political rebirth also gave his once-struggling campaign new life and put him in the midst of a wild scramble for the Republican nomination that has so far produced no clear favorite.
The typically stoic Clinton conceded that an emotional moment during a pre-election rally on Monday, in which she came close to tears as she discussed her reasons for wanting the presidency, may have helped her come back.
"I had this incredible moment of connection with the voters of New Hampshire and they saw it and they heard it. And they gave me this incredible victory last night," she said in morning interview with CBS's Early Show on Wednesday.
The state-by-state race to pick candidates for the November election to succeed President George W Bush now goes national before the Feb 5 "Super Tuesday" showdown, when 22 states hold contests.
The race changes from the intimate, face-to-face politics that characterised Iowa and New Hampshire to a wider national campaign driven by big-money television ads and cross-country plane trips.
New Hampshire's voters refused to follow the lead of Iowa, which last week gave Democrat Obama, 46, and Republican former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, 52, the first big wins of the US presidential race.
Clinton, 60, who finished third in Iowa, faced predictions of doom before New Hampshire. Polls showed her trailing Obama by double-digits, but she won by 3 percentage points.
"I listened to you and in the process I found my own voice," Clinton, who would be the first woman US president, told wildly cheering supporters in Manchester.
Obama, the Illinois senator bidding to be the first black president, had hoped for a New Hampshire win that would solidify his hold on the top spot in the race.
"Right now we are in a very close contest and that will probably go all the way through Feb. 5 as the voters lift the hood and kick the tires and make an assessment - who's going to really fight for them and their families and the concerns that they're facing," he said on NBC's Today show on Wednesday.
Obama told ABC's Good Morning America the high turnout in the Democratic contest in New Hampshire boded well for the party. "We're attracting a lot of independents and even some Republicans to vote Democratic this year," he said.
McCain's win was a spectacular comeback for the former Vietnam prisoner of war, who was written off for dead in the summer when he was low on cash, falling in the polls and shedding campaign staff.
"Nothing quite as invigorating as a win," McCain, the oldest major candidate in the race, said with a grin on CBS.
The next battle will be among Republicans in Michigan on Tuesday, where former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, 60, faces a possible must-win and McCain and Huckabee will also contend.
McCain won in Michigan during his failed presidential bid in 2000, Romney grew up there as the son of a former governor and auto executive, and Huckabee, a Baptist minister, will look to make inroads with the state's evangelical Christians.
South Carolina looms as a potential showdown state in both parties. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who placed second in Iowa and third in New Hampshire, is hoping to be a serious contender there.
The big Republican fight could occur Jan 19 in the state, where McCain's 2000 bid effectively died in a bitter battle with Bush.
South Carolina has a huge bloc of religious conservatives who could be drawn to fellow Southerner Huckabee, and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was already there on Tuesday as New Hampshire voted.
Democrats vote next in Nevada on Jan 19 before their Jan. 26 showdown in South Carolina, where Obama could hold an advantage in a state where more than half of Democratic primary voters are expected to be black.
Republican former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has focused his efforts on Florida, which votes on Jan 29, in hopes a strong showing there will propel him into the Feb 5 contests with momentum.
- REUTERS
