WRAPUP 5-New Hampshire voters make choice on White House

MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) - New Hampshire voters headed to the polls to choose candidates for U.S. president Tuesday, with Hillary Clinton fighting to keep her once high-flying Democratic campaign alive against rival Barack Obama's surge.

Five days after finishing a disappointing third in Iowa, the former first lady trails Obama by double digits in several state polls but promised she was staying in the race until the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" round of nominating contests.

For Obama, an Illinois senator aiming to be the first black president, a win in New Hampshire would solidify his hold on the top spot in the Democratic nominating campaign and deal a second consecutive humiliating loss to Clinton, the former front-runner.

In a hard-fought Republican battle, Sen. John McCain of Arizona holds a narrow lead over Mitt Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts who has poured tens of millions of dollars of his personal wealth into the race.

Campaigns and state officials reported heavy crowds at polling stations in balmy weather. There were predictions of a record turnout during the most wide open U.S. presidential race in more than 50 years, with no sitting president or vice president seeking the nominations.

Polls close at 8 p.m. EST , with results expected to begin rolling in quickly.

New Hampshire's primary is an early high-profile battleground in the state-by-state process of choosing Republican and Democratic candidates for November's election to succeed President Bush.

The candidates made a late drive for support, visiting voting stations and holding rallies.

"The American people have decided for the first time in a very long time it is time for change in America," Obama told a crowd at Dartmouth College.

Clinton, a New York senator, and Romney are both under intense pressure to revive their campaigns after disappointing showings in Iowa. Romney finished second in Iowa to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani ran into each other at a Manchester polling site, with Huckabee jokingly asking for his support before they wished each other well, a Giuliani aide said.

OBAMA LEAD GROWS

A new Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll showed Obama expanding his lead over Clinton to 13 points, 42 percent to 29 percent, with former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards third at 17 percent.

McCain led Romney 36 percent to 27 percent in the Republican race, with Huckabee at 10 percent.

Clinton greeted a handful of supporters at a Manchester polling place before dawn and made similar visits in Nashua, Derry and Concord.

Asked if she needed to win New Hampshire, she referred to the "Super Tuesday" round of 22 nominating contests. "I think the nominating process ends at midnight on February 5," she said. "I look forward to campaigning across the country."

Romney predicted the New Hampshire vote would be close and looked ahead. "Republicans are going to get behind me and independents are going to get behind me and we're going to end up winning this thing," he said.

The tiny mountain hamlet of Dixville Notch opened the state's voting shortly after midnight, as it has for every election since 1960, in a balloting display more media circus than civic event.

Before a room full of cameras, a few of the town's registered voters cast ballots. Obama won seven of the 10 Democratic votes, with former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards getting two and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson getting one.

McCain won four of the seven Republican votes, with Romney winning two and Giuliani getting one.

Huckabee said the gains in the race made by he and Obama showed the election was not "set in stone" and voters were restless for new faces.

"I think this is why you're seeing this Obama phenomenon on the Democratic side. It really speaks to the hunger in this country that they just don't want someone who's been inside the Washington bubble," Huckabee told Reuters.

Clinton said in an appearance CBS she was unsure about the reaction to her emotional moment on the campaign trail on Monday, when tears welled in her eyes and her voice choked while answering a question.

"Maybe, just maybe they might say, you know what, she's a human being after all. You never know. I'm not taking bets," Clinton laughed. (Additional reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, Jeff Mason, Mark Egan, Ed Stoddard and Jason Szep in New Hampshire; Editing by Chris Wilson) (For more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)