ANCHESTER, N.H. - With two tight races and an influence greater than ever, New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary unfolds today across a snowy landscape filled with independent-minded voters, many of whom say they are making their decision in the final hours.
Republican John McCain and Democrat Bill Bradley have pinned their futures largely on upending their respective parties' national front-runners, Governor George W. Bush of Texas and Vice President Al Gore. The vote could determine whether one or both of the presidential nomination races effectively ends here, or whether the insurgent candidates march forward with renewed vigor to the South and beyond.
''It's been a great ride,'' McCain told a New Hampshire radio audience yesterday, adding, ''I'm looking forward to a victory tomorrow night.''
Countered Bush: ''There's something going on out there. It's called energy and enthusiasm and excitement. And I like my chances a lot.''
The Democrats also conducted a furious final round of campaigning across the state. ''I'm going to be campaigning full-blast every minute of every hour,'' Gore told diners at the Tilt'n Diner in Tilton. In Hollis, Bradley declared that he was closing in fast: ''I hope independent-minded people in New Hampshire will send a message to this country that the old politics is over and the new politics have arrived.''
The day began with a scene that combined the nostalgia of Currier and Ives with the high-tech wizardry of a modern media campaign. As New Hampshirites shoveled several inches of fresh snow from their walkways, an army of satellite trucks moved into position, transforming this little state of 1.1 million people into the nation's temporary news media headquarters. On many street corners, young campaign workers could be seen carrying the brightly colored signs of their favorite candidates; here and there, a clutch of media surrounded a candidate, a bevy of boom microphones bristling above the pack.
While the candidates dashed about yesterday for a final flurry of photo opportunities from Derry to Concord and points in between, some of the most important action was taking place behind the scenes as an army of volunteers worked to get out the vote on what is forecast to be a sunny day, with a high of 36 degrees expected in the state capital of Concord.
''We're pushing and we're going to keep pushing all the way through to the end,'' said Bradley field director Kevin Keefe, who is providing 2,500 supporters with mountain climbing ''hot pads'' to warm their feet and hands while knocking on doors yesterday and monitoring the 299 polling sites around the state today.
The Bradley campaign yesterday was distributing 55,000 ''door hanger'' notices to homes that say, ''You can change history in the next 12 hours, vote for Bill Bradley. It's time for honesty and integrity to win for a change.''
Gore's campaign team estimated that it had called 100,000 voters over the weekend and said that it expected to call another 160,000 voters yesterday and today. Since Saturday, canvassers have delivered 120,000 pieces of literature throughout the state and placed 30,000 door hangers in targeted precincts reminding people to vote. Today, about 1,800 volunteers will be on hand to give voters rides to the polls.
The final organizational push is essential in this state, where a relatively small number of votes can make a major difference in whether a candidate lives to see another primary.
In 1996, for example, Patrick J. Buchanan beat Bob Dole by 2,136 votes. Though the number was relatively small, the embarrassing second-place finish hobbled Dole with the look of a loser as he went on to claim the Republican nomination.
''Turnout is always crucial when you have a tight contest, and you have a tight contest in the Republican race and a potentially tight contest in the Democratic race,'' said Linda L. Fowler, a government professor at Dartmouth College.
On the Republican side, Bush and his wife, Laura, made a recorded phone message urging people to vote; the automated calls were left on voters' answering machines.
The McCain campaign plans to have poll-watchers at each of the voting places, checking off names of supporters who cast a ballot. Those who have not showed up by about 4:30 p.m. will receive a phone call reminding them that it is critical to vote, said Mike Dennehy, McCain's New England director.
In some past campaigns, a strong second-place showing has been considered a victory. But this year seems different, with insurgents McCain and Bradley at or near the top of the polls for much of the winter. A decisive victory by Gore or Bush could give either nearly unstoppable momentum to the nomination.
Republican Steve Forbes, who boldy predicted last week that Bush would finish third in New Hampshire, now apparently has no such illusions. Instead, Forbes's hope is that Bush will be bruised enough here to be vulnerable in upcoming primaries in Delaware, South Carolina, Arizona, and Michigan.
''It is crucial that McCain beats Bush,'' said Greg Mueller, a senior adviser to Steve Forbes. ''We fulfilled our responsibility of questioning the inevitability of Bush with our showing in Iowa, and now we need McCain to do the same.''
Bush is counting on support from a core of Republican voters to win the primary. Dartmouth College professor of government Dean Spiliotes thinks the Republican race will turn on two factors: how many independents turn out to support McCain, and how many votes Bush loses to Keyes and Forbes.
''The question is whether Bush will get sandwiched between independents who go for McCain and conservatives who go for Forbes and Keyes,'' Spiliotes said.
By New Hampshire lore, if not the polls, many voters go through a last-minute period of decision-making. In some years, last-minute shifts toward one candidate or another have confounded pollsters. In interviews at recent campaign events, a sizable number of voters said they would make up their minds on election day.
On the campaign trail yesterday, most of the candidates posed for television cameras and kept away from reporters asking questions that might push them off their message.
Bush, for example, went sledding in Bedford with 13-year-old twins Laura and Lizzy Saggau of Merrimack. The night before, he spoke for just six minutes at a Super Bowl rally in Portsmouth before shaking hands and going home.
McCain made stops in Keene, Hanover, Concord, and Portsmouth, delivered a short outdoor speech in each place, and received cheers from volunteers and supporters as he touted himself as the anti-establishment candidate and a crusader for campaign finance overhauls.
He then began shaking hands, forgoing the customary, and sometimes interminable, question-and-answer session that has typified his candidacy here.
''It's like going cold turkey,'' McCain said at the start of the jam-packed day. ''It'll be an incredible shock to my system.''
Forbes, employing the strategy he used in the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, devoted more time yesterday to radio and television interviews than in-the-flesh campaigning. By midafternoon, the magazine publisher had conducted close to a dozen interviews but shaken the hands of only a few voters.
Gore kept to the campaign trail, but away from reporters, as he made a final swing around the southern part of the state.
In contrast to his blistering attack Sunday on rival Bradley, Gore took the high road yesterday, dismissing the few questions reporters were able to ask the well-sequestered candidate.
''I'm not going to get into any particular characterization of him,'' Gore said when asked if Bradley's attacks represented desperation on Bradley's part.
Bradley mostly suspended his offensive after a five-day assault on Gore's honesty and integrity. He returned to his theme of making ''big dreams'' - comprehensive health coverage, stricter gun control, and public financing of elections - come true.
The following Globe Staff members, traveling with candidates, contributed to this report: Yvonne Abraham, with McCain; Anne E. Kornblut, with Bush; Susan Milligan, with Gore; Michael Crowley, with Forbes; and Bob Hohler, with Bradley.
