(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-07 16:01

In Nashua, Clinton said that while Obama talks a lot about changing the United States, she believes she has actually carried out change. Change from the Bush administration is a leading theme in the presidential campaign.

"It is about how we bring about change by making sure we nominate and elect a doer and not a talker, that we begin to separate out rhetoric from reality," Clinton told a large, enthusiastic crowd in Nashua.

Accusing Obama and Edwards of not showing leadership on a litany of issues, she said, "That's not change," and the crowd joined in with her.

"That's not change," they yelled.

Obama, at a rally at a high school in Salem, fired back: "We don't need our leaders telling us what we can't do. We need our leaders to believe in what we can accomplish."

The race was taking a negative turn on both sides in a state that is vital to efforts by Clinton and Romney to revitalize their campaigns after disappointing showings last Thursday in Iowa.

Obama received the endorsement of former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, who finished a close second to then Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 Democratic primary here.

McCain ahead of Romney

The USA Today/Gallup poll said McCain had taken the lead over Romney, 34 percent to 30 percent. A win for McCain in New Hampshire would be a remarkable turnaround for him after his campaign suffered money problems last summer and was all but given up for dead.

Romney, who would be the first Mormon president, needs to win or finish high in New Hampshire to maintain his credibility after losing to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in Iowa.

At a rally in Nashua, Romney said he doubted McCain would stand up well against Obama, who he said was succeeding against veteran Democratic senators in the presidential race.

"Are we going to do the same thing and put another long-serving US senator up against him for him to talk about. Or are we going to put somebody - I hope it's me - somebody who has spent his lifetime not just in politics, not in Washington, but changing things?" Romney said.

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