MANCHESTER, NH- Another day, another immense crowd -- and another long line wrapping around the block. The grassroots enthusiasm in New Hampshire certainly hasn't dissipated; as far as I can tell, in the wake of Barack Obama's commanding debate win last night, it's just starting to take off. Take a look (and note that the video begins far away from the start of the line)...
I went to the front of the line and asked the person I met there what time he'd gotten here. He told me that he'd been standing outside in line since 7:30 AM.
A Nashua resident and an Independent voter, the man told me that he has been impressed by all of the leading Democratic candidates. But what pushed him towards Obama -- and what drove him to show up first in this massive line -- was Barack's victory speech in Des Moines, Iowa.
"It was the single greatest speech I've seen since Bobby Kennedy," the man told me. "I was a junior in high school in 1968 when Bobby ran, and I've never felt inspired like that until now. We need someone who can lift us up right now."
UPDATE: The speech just ended and I spoke to two women who left the event. One said she made up her mind two days ago, the other told me she was undecided until an hour ago.
UPDATE II: Newsweek's Andrew Romano writes:
It's going to sound horribly uncynical, but there's really no other way to say this: Obama's on fire.
..[T]his morning at the Palace Theater in Manchester, he earned not one but two standing ovations, the latter starting with constant, seated applause and crescendoing over the last three minutes of his speech. That's really, really rare. According to a colleague who travels with the campaign, these were the first and second standing O's he's seen at an Obama event in recent months. I've covered every candidate in the field, and I have to concur. "It's building," he added.
UPDATE III: Word is that in Exeter, NH, folks have already filled up two gymnasiums to see Barack... more soon. It's definitely building. I just got word that over 2,500 people showed up in Exeter.
By Sam Graham-Felsen of BarackObama.com
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#1 Interesting survey
To add my two cents to this article, it's interesting to see the break-down of those who support each of the Democratic front-runners. Obama seems to be preferred by independents, and it'll be interesting to see how women will choose between him and Hillary. Check http://www.projectweightloss.com/ for an interesting and somewhat unusual survey of the characteristics of each of the Democratic candidates' supporters.