In the first United States primary of this election year, voters in New Hampshire chose Massachusetts Senator John Kerry as their top pick to challenge President George W. Bush for the keys to the oval office in November.

With more than half the precincts reporting, Kerry was ahead with 39 per cent of the vote.

"I love New Hampshire," Kerry told supporters at his New Hampshire campaign headquarters on Tuesday night, adding that he loves Iowa too.

"I hope with your help to have the blessings and the opportunity to love a lot of other states in the days to come."

Competing with the cheers of the crowd of boisterous supporters, Kerry signalled his delight in taking a second-straight victory, fortifying the frontrunner status he claimed in last week's Iowa caucuses.

Howard Dean, the former five-term governor of Vermont, was hoping for a solid rebound from his disastrous third place showing in that race. He trailed Kerry with 25 per cent support.

"It looks like we are going to finish a solid second, but not any better in the New Hampshire primary, which is certainly better than finishing the third we did in Iowa," Dean told reporters, reacting to results which show his early edge in the polls had all but disappeared.

Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark won the initial votes cast Tuesday morning, but by the time polls closed he was trailing North Carolina Senator John Edwards in a pitched fight for third place.

Clark's 12 per cent support was close behind Edwards' 13 per cent.

"It's remarkable what's happened," Edwards said on CNN's Larry King, as he explained that he expects to carrying forward the momentum he's generated in Iowa, and now, New Hampshire.

With his eye on a win in South Carolina next week, Edwards dismissed suggestions he is campaigning to be vice president. "This is a long-term campaign and I intend to be the nominee."

Senator Joseph Lieberman, who skipped Iowa alongside Clark, was just behind with nine per cent support.
Addressing his supporters, Lieberman refused to call the result a disappointment.

"Thanks to the people of New Hampshire we are in a three-way split decision for third place," Lieberman said, putting his best spin on the fifth-place showing. "The national pundits didn't expect this."

Acknowledging that Kerry and Dean were clearly first and second, he said, "The rest was split with no clear decision reached."

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who claimed two per cent support, and Al Sharpton are also running.

Hard scrabble politics

For the five major rivals, however, the last days have been a desperate scramble to convince New Hampshire's notoriously fickle voters to hand them the victory flag.

Appearing on The Today Show on Tuesday, the Vietnam veteran also took an unusual jab at his closest opponent. "Unlike Howard Dean, I've fought in a war and I know the responsibilities of commander in chief, of how you send young men and women off to war," Kerry said.

Dean, once the front-runner in the race and now considered a close second to Kerry, lost a lot of support in Iowa and gained notoriety for his much-publicized screaming appearance afterwards.

CTV's Lisa LaFlamme said that since Dean led New Hampshire polls by more than 20 points just weeks ago, a loss could be considered fatal to his campaign.

But reaction from Dean's campaign staff Tuesday night was defiantly upbeat.

"We'll take that," a senior aide told reporters after a cheer erupted in the campaign headquarters. They were reacting to reports Dean would finish in a closer-than-expected second place.

For now, at least, the results squash speculation Dean's campaign was a write-off after his 20 point loss in Iowa, and subsequent fist-pumping concession speech.

"The Iowa bounce is real. It makes a difference," Dean told CNN's Larry King. "We're not the frontrunner anymore, but I'm still determined to change the country and we've got a lot of people out there who want real change in America.

Race far from decided

After Iowa and New Hampshire, the nomination battle goes nationwide starting with a seven-state contest on Feb. 3.

By that time, giant rallies and big budget ad campaigns will replace the door-to-door intimacy of small-state politics.

LaFlamme said that means losers in New Hampshire will have to seriously consider whether they can afford to continue a losing campaign.

"The pressure on these candidates will be enormous to drop out if they have a poor finish in New Hampshire because money just dries up for candidates if they don't look like viable contenders," LaFlamme said, recalling the departure of former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt last week.

"This is really all about electability -- who can beat George Bush? That's all they care about. That's all they're talking about."

John Parisella is a Canadian political observer volunteering with the Kerry campaign. He told CTV's Canada AM there is still a long way to go before it will be known who will face off against President George Bush come November.
"It's going to be a close race and an interesting one over the next few weeks," he said.

"There are seven primaries a week from today, and then a month from next week, there will be a whole series of other nominations. We should know by, I would say, the 2nd of March, who is going to be the nominee."

A total of 269 committed delegates are at stake Feb. 3 in Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Carolina.

That is more than 12 per cent of the 2,162 needed for the party nomination, and vastly overshadows the 67 delegates up for grabs in Iowa and New Hampshire combined.

Michigan and Washington state hold contests four days later, followed by Maine, Virginia and Tennessee. After Wisconsin voters cast their ballots a week later, the nation will bear down for the huge 10-state showdown March 2.