Testing new themes in sprint for New Hampshire

“We’re not going to change Washington by sending back the same old faces,” Romney said in Derry. He said Obama, of Illinois, was “well spoken” but in terms of bringing change, “he’s never done it”.

Clinton, the New York Democrat, dispensed with her stump speech and took extended questions from voters in Penacook, where she offered an “economic action plan” that included help for families facing mortgage foreclosures.

And McCain filled the television airwaves here with a sentimental advertisement invoking his victory in New Hampshire’s 2000 Republican primary: “My friends; it’s a different time but it’s the same place.”

The events unfolded across New Hampshire as the candidates sought to retool their appeals, reflecting, for Clinton and Romney, lessons learned from Iowa, as well as the different nature of this state’s electorate. Romney went through an entire town hall style meeting this morning without once mentioning abortion or gay rights; that kind of omission would have been unheard of in Iowa.

Even as they did that, candidates were preparing for the crush of three debates this weekend, including back-to-back ones on Saturday evening. The array of events reflected the fact that there were only four days between the vote in Iowa and the vote in New Hampshire.

In many ways, the results in Iowa — and polls in this state — suggested that the Democratic and Republican contests were to a large extent two-way races: Clinton and Obama for Democrats and McCain and Romney for Republicans.

Still, on the Democratic side, former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina was moving to try at least to make a showing here after coming in second to Obama in Iowa. On the Republican side, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was trying to show his strength beyond Iowa, where he won the caucuses.