With so many Independents voting in the Democratic and Republican primaries New Hampshire today, and likely deciding the nominees, the question arises, how long will they stay Democrats and Republicans: The answer is, they can change back to Independents on their way out of the polling booth. (See, Par. 2 under Presidential Primary)

Undeclared voters may declare a party and vote at any primary. The law allows an undeclared voter to declare a party at the polls, vote the ballot of that party, and then change their party affiliation back to undeclared simply by completing the form available from the Supervisors of the Checklist at the polling place.

New Hampshire by the numbers:2008:

• 850,836 total registered voters
• 26% Democratic
• 30% Republican
• 44% Independent
• Delegates: 27
• 22 tied to primary results
• 5 super-delegates, free to choose
• Electoral College Votes: 4 [More...]

Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was at a polling place in Portsmouth, NH today to support Hillary Clinton:

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, Texas also made a visit to Portsmouth Junior High School in support of her favorite candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton.“Hillary is a candidate of ideas. I’m excited about her candidacy because I’m excited about what she can do,” Jackson Lee said.

Barclay Jackson, a Portsmouth voter and Hillary supporter added:

“She has the guts, strength, and experience to lead us out of the mess we are in,” Jackson said. “She has again and again stood up for women’s rights to make personal decisions.”

On Hillary's expression of emotion yesterday: [More...]

Gloria Steinem today in the New York Times:

Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy.

That’s why the Iowa primary was following our historical pattern of making change. Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter).

If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago. Indeed, neither she nor Hillary Clinton could have used Mr. Obama’s public style — or Bill Clinton’s either — without being considered too emotional by Washington pundits.

So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.

There is truth in what Steinem writes but it is not a universal truth. In general, I believe white women are given a fairer shake than African American men. But in politics, especially at its highest levels, this seems less so. It seems undeniable that Obama has become a Meda Darling while Hillary Clinton has gotten the worst coverage since Al Gore in 2000.

Sexism is more acceptable. Exhibit A? Chris Matthews. If he acted towards Obama as he does towards Hillary, he would have been Imused.

This is not to say that that explains Obama's meteoric rise. But it is a factor.

Update [2008-1-8 9:37:31 by Big Tent Democrat]: See also Ezra.

Update [2008-1-8 17:16:6 by Big Tent Democrat]: Here's Plutonium Page's take

Here are the latest polls:

Suffolk:

Obama 39 (35)
Clinton 34 (34)
Edwards 15 (15)

ARG:

Obama 40 (39)
Clinton 31 (28)
Edwards 17 (22)

Zogby:

Obama 42 (39)
Clinton 29 (29)
Edwards 17 (19)

Rassmussen:

Obama 37 (38)
Clinton 30 (28)
Edwards 19 (18)

Clinton is closing in all but the Zogby poll. But the margin seems too large. So the spin is critical here. If Clinton can come within say 5, she has a fair chance of arguing she did decently in the face of Iowa Mo. Edwards is done it seems. Obama is the winner if he wins, but how big a win is subject to spin.

Update 12:05 am ET: The votes are in.

2 Edwards
1 Richardson
7 Obama
0 Clinton

Update: There was only two registered Democrats voting. The Independents at work:

In Dixville this year, there were three registered Republicans, two Democrats - one of whom registered Monday - and 12 who were undeclared. Hart's Location had eight Democrats, eight Republicans and 13 undeclared.

Update: Hart's Location results are also in:

In Hart's Location, Democrat Obama received nine votes, Hillary Rodham Clinton received three and John Edwards received one. Among Republicans, McCain received six, Mike Huckabee received five, Ron Paul received four and Mitt Romney one.

Hart's location had 8 Democrats, 8 Republicans and 13 Independents.

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Original Post Below: New Hampshire: First Voting Begins at Midnight Tonight

David Letterman shaved his beard on the air tonight. After guest Tom Hanks, Mike Huckabee came on.

He's very affable. He told a very funny story about when he was a radio host. Some quotes:

"As President, you're not making speeches, you're making decisions."

"If I win New Hamsphire, it's because I did this show. If I lose New Hampshire, it's because I did this show."

He did his "vertical leadership" schtick and said everyone gets it. (Note, I didn't.)

That's it...Wow, he flew to NY for that?

Postscript: I'm not a Republican, but if I were, which would mean I share their crazy views, I'd vote for Romney or Huckabee. The rest are pure duds.

Ok, here is the new worst alleged news article of the campaign:

McCain And Obama Share Little But Appeal To Youth

In the Republican ranks, Mr. McCain, 71, is a curious bookend to Mr. Obama. He is the oldest candidate in either party. Yet he draws hundreds of young people at some events. Mr. McCain drew many hundreds when he spoke at Dartmouth, a number exceeded only by the 2,000 students who showed up for Mr. Obama.

Are you freaking kidding me? Obama just rewrote the book on the youth vote in Iowa where McCain got stomped; Obama is leading by incredible margins among young voters and McCain is leading not at all.

This article is simply a lie to puff up the Media Darling John McCain. Yet again the New York Times proves that its political coverage is simply execrable. And that John MCain is a Media Darling. Obama has some strong competition on that front from McCain. But NOT in appealing to young voters.

I'm politicked out and need a little rock and roll.

It's cold and lonely in the deep, dark night
I can see Paradise by the dashboard light.

...We got a real pressure cooker going here
...nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth,

If Markos of Daily Kos, a very astute observer without a dog in this fight is correct, it's a tsunami.

That means those of us voting in the 47 states other than Iowa, NH and SC won't have an impact in determining who our nominee will be.

What a silly system. I haven't even decided whether I'm going to vote for Hillary Clinton or John Edwards on February 5 -- 9 months before the election -- and it's already too late for my vote to matter.

What's even sillier is that the decision as to who gets the Democratic nomination is being made more by Independents than by registered Democrats, since these early states allow Independents to vote in the Democratic primary and they are turning out in droves.

Barack Obama in New Hampshire:

In Lebanon, N.H., Obama criticized rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for chastising him in a weekend debate for raising "false hopes" about what he can deliver for the country. Obama said President Kennedy didn't look at the moon and decide getting there would be a false hope, and Martin Luther King didn't decide segregation couldn't end.

"If anything crystalized what this campaign is about, it was that right there," Obama said of Clinton's comment in the debate. "Some are thinking in terms of our constraints, and some are thinking about our limitless possibilities."

Hillary responded today -- making the point that it was a Democratic president, Lyndon Johnson, who made Dr, King's dream, the Civil Rights Act, a reality. here's the video, it's at 3:45 minutes in.

Obama also invoked Dr. King in Manchester today.

“When people ask me, ‘Why are you running?’ it’s not because of any long-lived ambitions. I’m not running because I feel it is owed to me. I’m running because of what Dr. King called the ‘fierce urgency of now.’ ”

Who does the media accuse of playing the card? Hillary. Go figure.

Update: Josh Marshall has the full quote ...More

As the media continues tonight to claw Hillary Clinton -- it's just sickening to watch -- now there's this:

Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign stop was interrupted on Monday when two men stood in the crowd and began screaming, "Iron my shirt!" during one the New York senator's final appearances before New Hampshire voters cast primary ballots Tuesday.

Clinton, a former first lady running to become the nation's first female president, laughed at the seemingly sexist protest that suggested a woman's place is doing the laundry and not running the country.

"Ah, the remnants of sexism -- alive and well," Clinton said to applause in a school auditorium.

..."As I think has been abundantly demonstrated, I am also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling," she said. Clinton later joked about the incident as she invited questions.

I just watched a newsclip on CNN of reporters interviewing Barack Obama's paternal grandmother in Kenya. She said he was a good listener. She spoke in the Kenyan language, through an interpreter. Obama's uncle in Kenya showed a picture of Obama's first visit to Kenya and his "ceremonial Kenyan home" after his father died in a car accident in 1982. [Update 1/8: Here's the video.]

The Chicago Tribune reported Obama's parents met and married while they were students at the University of Hawaii. He was born six months after their marriage. They separated when he was three years old. His father left Hawaii for Harvard and his mother remarried when he was five years old. He didn't see his father again until he was ten, and then for a brief visit.

In[his] memoir, Obama describes his experiences growing up in his mother's American middle class family. His knowledge about his African father, who returned once for a brief visit in 1971, came mainly through family stories and photographs.

So how well does Obama's "granny" know him, do they speak a language in common for her to know he's a good listener, and was it really worth CNN's time to conduct this visit and our's to watch it?

Update: A commenter below explains what CNN should have -- that Obama went and stayed with his grandmother to learn about his roots and his sister interpreted. That makes her comment about his being a good listener at least make sense. See below: