Obama, Huckabee head to New Hampshire after big wins in Iowa

With big wins in Iowa in hand, U.S. Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee and the other presidential contenders headed to New Hampshire on Friday to open a four-day battle for the next prize in the White House race.

Obama, Huckabee and most of the rest of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates took overnight flights to the New England state to resume a nominating fight that took a dramatic turn in Iowa.

Obama's convincing Democratic victory, a historic first step in his quest to become the first U.S. black president, dealt severe blows to rivals Hillary Clinton and John Edwards and put pressure on them to revive their campaigns.

"Now we move on. We move on from Iowa to New Hampshire and to the other states to determine who's best suited to bring about the change that this country so desperately needed," Edwards said.

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and an ordained Baptist minister, severely damaged big-spending rival Mitt Romney with his easy win in Iowa but will face a tougher task in New Hampshire.

Huckabee has lagged well behind Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain in polls in the state, which has a much smaller population of the religious conservatives who fueled his rise in Iowa.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has been running against Huckabee in Iowa and McCain in New Hampshire at the same time, and has aired strong ads criticizing both.

Both Obama, 46, and Huckabee, 52, once trailed better-known rivals Clinton and Romney in their race to be on the November election ballot. But they rode a wave of grass-roots enthusiasm to victories by touting an outsider's message of change in Washington.

"We are choosing hope over fear, we are choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America," Obama told thousands of cheering, chanting and foot-stamping supporters in Des Moines.

The 2008 campaign is the most open presidential race in more than 50 years, with no sitting president or vice president seeking their party's nomination, and the Iowa contest was the most hotly contested in the state's history.

Turnout among Democrats topped 220,000, smashing the previous record of 124,000 in 2004 - testament to the high enthusiasm among Democrats heading into November's election.

The prize for the Iowa winners is valuable momentum and at least a temporary claim to the front-runner's slot in the battle to win the party's nomination in the November election.

For Democrats, a second consecutive win in New Hampshire would give Obama a huge boost in momentum and fundraising and make him a strong favorite to capture the Democratic nomination.

Clinton, 60, the former first lady who a few months ago was considered in some quarters the almost certain Democratic nominee, now faces a do-or-die battle to turn around her campaign in New Hampshire over the next five days.

"Today we are sending a clear message that we are going to have change, and that change will be a Democratic president in the White House," Clinton, with husband and former President Bill Clinton at her shoulder, said in Des Moines.

Edwards, 54, who at one time led polls in Iowa and finished a strong second here during a failed 2004 presidential bid, also faces questions about the viability of his candidacy as he goes forward.

Romney's loss in Iowa is likely to help McCain in New Hampshire as he aims for a comeback after being written off in mid-summer, when low poll and fund-raising numbers forced him to recalibrate his campaign and shake up his staff.

McCain won the New Hampshire primary in 2000 during his failed presidential bid and had largely bypassed Iowa to concentrate his efforts there. Independents can vote in either primary in New Hampshire, and they were a key factor in McCain's win in 2000.

In Manchester, New Hampshire, McCain said on MSNBC that he left a voice message for Huckabee congratulating him on running a "good, strong positive" race and said he was confident of a strong showing next week.

"We're going to win here in New Hampshire and go on to Michigan and South Carolina," he said.

	Democratic candidate Barack Obama (L) / Republican candidate Mike Huckabee (R) (Reuters)