Their last bids for the first primary

FOR THE RECORD:
New Hampshire profile: A graphic accompanying an article in Tuesday's Section A about the candidates' final push for votes in New Hampshire reversed the percentages in showing results of the 2004 general election in that state. John F. Kerry got 50% of the vote, and George W. Bush got 49%. —

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A record turnout of more than 500,000 voters, many of them independents, was expected, reflecting the hard-fought nature of the Democratic and Republican races, and New Hampshire's pride in its traditional role in culling the field of contenders.

The latest surveys showed Sen. Obama of Illinois enjoying a surge of support after his victory in Thursday's Iowa caucuses, with Sen. Clinton of New York trailing well behind and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson even further back.

On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were locked in a close contest. Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee -- the GOP winner in Iowa -- was far behind, bunched with ex-New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

The state is crucial for Clinton, who is trying to bounce back from a third-place finish in Iowa, and her teary eyes introduced an added overlay of uncertainty to the contest.

Some compared her emotional display -- brought on by a friendly question about the rigors of campaigning -- to the career-killing moment in 1972 when presidential hopeful Edmund S. Muskie supposedly wept after a newspaper editorial attacked his wife. (To this day, some assert those were merely New Hampshire snowflakes melting on Muskie's face.)

But Clinton's rivals chose to ignore or brush aside the moment. Obama offered no comment, and Edwards, when asked by reporters about a possible Muskie repeat, replied: "These campaigns are grueling, and they're tough and difficult affairs."

Some suggested the tears might redound to Clinton's benefit.

"Her campaign in New Hampshire has been a portrait of self-control, of organization and discipline," said Dante Scala, a University of New Hampshire political scientist. "If anything, it probably lacked a little spontaneity. This adds some humanity."

Perhaps of greater concern for Clinton are growing doubts among her supporters.

"I don't think there is any question that there is a lot of nervousness about where this is all headed," said Leon E. Panetta, a Clinton donor who served as her husband's White House chief of staff.

For McCain and Romney, their candidacies may be riding on New Hampshire.

McCain, the winner in the 2000 GOP New Hampshire primary, is counting on a victory to complete his comeback after many left his campaign for dead over the summer. Romney, as a next-door neighbor of New Hampshire's, needs a win to recover from his poor second-place showing in Iowa behind the vastly outspent Huckabee.

On Monday, Romney was looking past Clinton, yet another sign of her diminished stature. He argued that McCain, who has served 20 years in the Senate, was too weak to face Obama, a first-term senator, in the general election.

"There is no way that our party would be successful in the fall if we put forward a long-serving senator to stand up against Barack Obama's message of change," Romney told reporters in Stratham, at the corporate headquarters of the Timberland shoe company.

Barreling through a 14-hour swing across southern New Hampshire -- and occasionally mangling some of his remarks -- Romney also sought to dispel any notion that he was waging a one- or two-state campaign predicated on victories in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"From here, we're going to go on to Michigan and South Carolina and Nevada," said Romney, who has sunk millions of his personal fortune into the presidential race. "This is a 50-state campaign."