ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
As we mentioned, NPR reporters are traveling with many of the candidates in New Hampshire today. And we have reports from four of them, beginning with Don Gonyea in Concord with Senator Barack Obama.
DON GONYEA: Huge crowds and big enthusiasm greeted Barack Obama at a pair of campaign rallies in the Granite State today. Still a bit hoarse from an intense schedule in Iowa over the past two weeks, he addressed a packed high school gymnasium in the capital city of Concord, New Hampshire this afternoon.
Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Illinois; Presidential Candidate): It's good to be back. It's good to be back. You know, we've been spending a little time in Iowa.
GONYEA: New Hampshire voters like to say that they are independent, that they aren't swayed by what happens in Iowa or anywhere else. But for Obama, there are signs in the Iowa results that his campaign is attracting a broad variety of support, something he hopes to repeat in New Hampshire.
Sen. OBAMA: We won the young vote, we won the old vote, won the union vote, won the non-union vote. We won men and women, black and white. We gave thousands of people who had never participated in politics before a reason to believe.
GONYEA: The Obama campaign is also bracing for a fresh round of attacks now that he has the Iowa win under his belt. But his advisers say the numbers in Iowa where turnout doubled the previous record proved the power of a positive message. Obama will maintain an aggressive schedule with large events and small. Polls in New Hampshire show Obama still trailing Hillary Clinton here, at least until today.
Don Gonyea, NPR News, Concord, New Hampshire.
DAVID GREENE: I'm David Greene in Manchester where today was the day for Hillary Clinton to hit the reset button. She eagerly worked a crowd at a downtown cafe and even departed from normal policy by taking questions from reporters. To get in position for the cameras, she had to ask a few diners a favor.
Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, New York; Presidential Candidate): Gentlemen, can we ask you to - would you mind? I mean, I hate to ask you to leave your comfortable table, but I don't want to have my back to the…
(Soundbite of menu board falling)
GREENE: That last sound was a menu board crashing down on the head of one reporter.
Sen. CLINTON: Are you okay? Oh, that - wow. Are you okay?
GREENE: Once Clinton got started, she was her usual analytical self. She said that in Iowa, turnout among Democrats was much higher than expected.
Sen. CLINTON: And I did very, very well with people over 45, and I didn't do as well with people under 30. And I take responsibility for that.
GREENE: But she also denied being disappointed.
Sen. CLINTON: Well, you know, Iowa does not have the best track record in determining who the parties nominate. Everybody knows that.
GREENE: But then, there's New Hampshire, a place, she says, that's more like a traditional election than those caucuses.
Sen. CLINTON: But obviously, this is a new day. This is a new state; this is a primary election.
GREENE: And Clinton says she's ready to get to work.
Sen. CLINTON: We're going to crisscross the state. We're going to go anywhere two or more people are willing to meet and hear my case and ask me the questions that are on their minds to help them make their decisions.
GREENE: With a smile on her face, Clinton said in these next few days in New Hampshire, she expects to have a great time.
David Greene, NPR News, Manchester.
AUDIE CORNISH: I'm Audie Cornish with the John McCain campaign.
People say there were only three tickets out of Iowa, but Senator McCain didn't need the ride. He's already leading New Hampshire polls among Republicans, and when he woke up here this morning, he didn't sweat his close fourth place finish behind Fred Thompson in Iowa.
Senator JOHN McCAIN (Republican, Arizona; Presidential Candidate): And I called Fred Thompson this morning - we're in a virtual tie - and apparently, I'm a couple of hundred votes behind him. I called him up and tell him, I'm demanding a recount.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Sen. McCAIN: Because I want to finish third, so.
CORNISH: At a pharmacy in Hollis, people stood on tiptoes over aisles of chips and magazines to get a look at him. McCain crowds that barely filled rooms two months ago are spilling over at his events. With all the fuss over Iowa, McCain has practically had New Hampshire to himself for weeks.
Now, McCain's psyching up for an onslaught from his rivals especially Mitt Romney who's already been running pointed TV ads against him.
Sen. McCAIN: And by the way, my friends, negative ads don't work for New Hampshire. Tell candidates that. Tell candidates that you want positive ads. You want to know what the vision is, not attacks on other candidates. You know, they didn't work in Iowa and they won't work in New Hampshire.
CORNISH: In his speeches, McCain is playing up his bipartisanship, his belief in a long-term commitment to the war in Iraq, and his mission to cut pork barrel spending.
He says he's focused on fiscal conservatives here regardless of party, but he could have competition for independent supporters like Denise April(ph) from Hollis who are also looking across the aisle.
Ms. DENISE APRIL (Independent Supporter): Like, my dilemma right now is do I want a Republican in the White House or do I want a Democrat? And I don't know the answer to that yet. And I probably won't know the answer 'til - on the eighth when I vote.
CORNISH: Audie Cornish, NPR News, Manchester.
SCOTT HORSLEY: And I'm Scott Horsley.
Mitt Romney arrived in New Hampshire before the sunrise, hoping a new day and a new state would bring a new dawn for his campaign. Romney stepped off his chartered airbus in the seacoast town Portsmouth, crossed an ice-covered tarmac, and walked into a warm New England welcome complete with Dunkin' Donuts and a sing-along worthy of Fenway Park.
(Soundbite of music)
HORSLEY: About a hundred and fifty well-wishers were on hand to greet the former governor from neighboring Massachusetts. Romney told the crowd, it's great to be back in New Hampshire.
Mr. MITT ROMNEY (Former Republican Governor, Massachusetts; Presidential Candidate): And when we came back with a silver medal - we wanted the gold, we got the silver - but New Hampshire, we're getting the gold.
HORSLEY: Romney insists he's satisfied with his second place finish in Iowa even though he'd outspent the winner Mike Huckabee by a huge margin. Romney says Huckabee had a natural constituency in Iowa's churchgoing evangelicals. But Huckabee said on NBC's "Today Show," it was more than that that put him over the top.
(Soundbite of TV show, "Today Show")
Mr. MIKE HUCKABEE (Former Republican Governor, Arkansas; Presidential Candidate): What we're seeing is that this campaign is not just about people who have a religious fervor, it's about people who love America but who want it to be better.
HORSLEY: Here in New Hampshire, Romney expects his biggest challenge to come from Arizona Senator John McCain. He told reporters he plans to campaign aggressively in the handful of days before Granite Staters go to the polls.
Mr. ROMNEY: There's no way that Senator McCain is going to be able to come to New Hampshire and say he's the candidate that represents change, that he'll change Washington. He is Washington.
HORSLEY: Romney is already running TV ads in New Hampshire that start out praising McCain for his war record and his patriotism then attack the senator for his positions on taxes and immigration. Romney's also looking ahead to Michigan, and he sent two of his five sons to Wyoming for that state's caucuses tomorrow.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Manchester, New Hampshire.