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MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Voters as well as candidates are showing

up at polling places across New Hampshire for the nation's first

presidential primary.

Spring-like weather may be helping to boost the turnout.

John McCain is jokingly predicting a landslide victory over his

Republican rivals, after outpolling rivals in two tiny northern

hamlets, which cast the first 46 ballots of the primary season at

midnight,

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama is hoping to follow up his

victory in the Iowa caucuses with a convincing win over Hillary

Rodham Clinton. He says Americans are ready to "cast aside

cynicism."

For her part, Clinton is promising a daylong blitz to get her

supporters out. But former President Bill Clinton is trying to

lower expectations for his wife, saying the unusually short stretch

between Iowa and New Hampshire presented little chance to counter

Obama's momentum.

Late polls found Obama with a clear advantage over Clinton. John

Edwards trailed both, with Bill Richardson in back.

Surveys show a closer race on the Republican side, with McCain

and Mitt Romney in a statistical tie and Iowa winner Mike Huckabee

trailing both.