Voters flock to polls in N.H.

The candidates were up before dawn, getting in some last-minute campaigning. And the polls gave Arizona Senator John McCain the advantage over his Republican rivals.

Among the Democrats, the polls are indicating that Senator Barack Obama has the edge over Senator Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

Voter turnout was not just a record, but so heavy that election officials had to rush voting equipment to polling places all around the state to meet the incredible demand.

Incredible crowds surrounded the candidates, even before the sun came up. Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee crossed paths in Manchester and all over New Hampshire for the rest of the day.

Polling places were so packed, election officials scrambled to bring in extra voting equipment. And all along the campaign trail, candidates raced from one place to another, meeting, touching and cajoling the voters one more time.

"The people in this state know the impact of their votes," said McCain. "I think this is an amazing primary."

"Listen, there is something going on out there. There is something stirring in the air," Obama told a crowd.

Obama, the Democratic frontrunner, is generating much of the excitement. But he was taking nothing for granted as he rallied bleary-eyed college students at an 8 a.m. event, interrupted by a young person in the crowd who fainted. Obama moved on later to buy doughnuts for anyone who needed a sugar fix. And he responded to former President Bill Clinton's complaint Monday night that wife Hillary is withering under a barrage of criticism from a biased media handling Obama with kid gloves.

"It tells me that he's more interested in trying to muddy the waters than actually talk fairly about my record," said Obama.

An emotional moment Monday showed the softer side of Hillary Clinton most voters have ever seen. Monday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a woman asked Senator Clinton how she was able to do it all. Clinton appeared to get a little emotional as she answered the question.That response has drawn criticism as well as praise.

But she and Democrat John Edwards were both promising to soldier on regardless of today's outcome.

>> I'm in this for the long haul. What I have to do is continue to stay strong throughout the whole campaign.

McCain needs a win to compete with the deep pockets of Republican Mitt Romney as the race moves on to bigger states. And the popularity of two who haven't campaigned much in New Hampshire, Mike Huckabee and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, will change the dynamics of the GOP race. And that Republican race will still be very much up in the air regardless of who wins New Hampshire because the candidates are pursuing very different strategies state by state. And there's no clear favorite.

On the Democratic side, if Obama does win Tuesday night, history indicates he is likely to be the Democratic nominee because not since Ed Muskie in 1972 has anyone in either party won Iowa and New Hampshire and then not gone on to the party nomination.

The first N.H. results

The votes in two small towns have already been counted.

Voters in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location cast their ballots just after midnight.

The winners in both hamlets were Barack Obama for the democrats... and John McCain on the Republican side.

State law allows towns with fewer than 100 residents to open the polls at midnight and to close as soon as all registered voters have cast their ballots.

Daley's reaction to Hillary's tears

Do emotions play a role in politics? Mayor Daley says it's fine to show emotion.

"There's nothing wrong with emotion. Maybe some people in your industry don't have it, but we do have emotion," said Daley, answering a journalist.

The mayor said it is unfair to criticize politicians for showing emotion.