Obama jumps into the lead in New Hampshire

Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, wants to be the first black US president

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton battled to keep crucial New Hampshire from swinging to rising rival Barack Obama today but new polls showed him jumping into the lead. In the hotly contested Republican race, Arizona Senator John McCain leaped ahead of former Massachusetts Govenor Mitt Romney even as Romney tried to raise doubts about McCain.

Republican candidates bickered over taxes and spending in a Fox News Channel debate last night, with Romney and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won Iowa last week, accusing each other of raising taxes in their states.

Obama, an Illinois senator seeking to be the first black US president, built on his victory in Iowa last week with a significant bounce in New Hampshire, which votes tomorrow. New Hampshire's primary is the next battleground in the state-by-state process of choosing Republican and Democratic candidates for November's election to replace President George W Bush.

Tracking poll
A USA Today/Gallup poll said Obama had opened up a 13-point lead over Clinton in New Hampshire, 41% to 28%, to 19% for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. A WMUR/CNN tracking poll, taken over the weekend, showed Obama leading Clinton, 39 to 29%.

Earlier polls had shown the race to be a dead heat between Clinton and Obama. A loss in New Hampshire would be a significant blow to Clinton in the New York senator's drive to become the first woman US president. Trying to salvage New Hampshire, the former first lady engaged in some of her heaviest attacks against Obama in the months-long campaign.

In Nashua, Clinton said that while Obama talks a lot about changing the United States, she believes she has actually carried out change. Change from the Bush administration is a leading theme in the presidential campaign.

Accusing Obama and Edwards of not showing leadership on a litany of issues, she said, "That's not change," and the crowd joined in with her. "That's not change," they yelled. Obama, at a rally at a high school in Salem, fired back: "We don't need our leaders telling us what we can't do. We need our leaders to believe in what we can accomplish."

The race was taking a negative turn on both sides in a state that is vital to efforts by Clinton and Romney to revitalize their campaigns after disappointing showings last Thursday in Iowa. Obama received the endorsement of former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, who finished a close second to then Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 Democratic primary here. - Reuters