CLINTON IN NEED OF NEW HAMPSHIRE MIRACLE ; Former First Lady Trails Obama Again

Jan 09, 03:02 AM

VOTING began yesterday in the crucial New Hampshire primary as US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton looked set for another hiding from wonderboy Barack Obama.

Early votes showed the former first lady in joint second place with John Edwards as Obama stormed ahead.

Results from the first two ballots showed Obama with 16 votes, ahead of Clinton and former senator Edwards on three each. The other Democrat hopeful, Bill Richardson, had one vote.

Clinton's team were bracing themselves for a potentially devastating setback in New Hampshire after Obama's win in Iowa less than a week ago. Clinton, who hopes to become America's first female president, had been national favourite for the Democratnomination until she finished third in Iowa after Edwards.

She was in second place in the New Hampshire opinion polls as voting began yesterday.

Despite hopes she could close the gap there on Obama, who hopes to become the first black president, Clinton is struggling as his campaign gains momentum.

She received a further blow when one of the main Republican contenders suggested the book should be closed on Obama.

Mitt Romney was arriving at a polling station at 7am when he made it clear which Democrat he thought would be standing for president in November.

Casting himself as the Republican best able to hold the White House, Romney said: "My record of bringing change is going to post up very well against Barack Obama."

In a northern New Hampshire hamlet tradition, voters of Dixville Notch and Hart's Location cast the first 46 ballots of the primary season at midnight.

The main polls opened across the state at 6am and were to close at 8pm local time (1am GMT).

Wins in such early contests as the New Hampshire primary and last week's caucuses in Iowa are seen as crucial in a candidate's state- by-state fight for their party's place in the presidential election.

Clinton had hoped New Hampshire would be the place for her to write a "comeback kid" story, just as her husband Bill did there in the 1992 primaries.

Then, his second-place finish marked the start of the would-be president's revival in the fight for the Democrat nomination.

On the Republican side, Romney and one of his main rivals, JohnMcCain, were neck and neck in opinion polls as voting began.

But McCain opened up an early lead, with 10 votes.

Rival Mike Huckabee, who won in Iowa, was second with five votes while Ron Paul had four and Romney three.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani had won one vote.

(c) 2008 Daily Record; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. CLINTON IN NEED OF NEW HAMPSHIRE MIRACLE ; Former First Lady Trails Obama Again
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