Undecided voters give Obama hope in 2008 race

By Jason Szep and Ellen Wulfhorst

ALTON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - David Tothill is neither a Republican nor a Democrat but he knows what he wants in the 2008 White House race -- a fresh face.

"I like to believe that we can have a leader whose family name is not Bush or Clinton," said the 53-year-old retired software engineer after hearing Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama speak. "I like what Obama had to say."

The Illinois senator is counting on voters like Tothill, one of many undecided independent voters who can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary in the influential early voting state of New Hampshire, well ahead of the November 2008 election.

Obama has an uphill task. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton leads in national polls as well as in New Hampshire six weeks before the start of the state-by-state battle for the Democratic nomination.

A CNN/WMUR poll by the University of New Hampshire released on Tuesday showed Clinton's lead widening over the past two weeks to nine points from six points in the state that traditionally holds the first presidential primary. One sign of hope for Obama -- almost half of Democratic voters have not finally decided.

There are some tentative signs that the fight for the Democratic nomination may be tightening. A Washington Post-ABC News poll on Monday showed Obama opening a four-point lead over Clinton in Iowa, within the statistical margin of error.

"He (Obama) is the new face. I think New Hampshire voters respond to that," said Boston University politics professor Thomas Whalen.

"He doesn't seem like someone who goes by the traditional script. He's actually saying things that are different and New Hampshire voters, typically younger voters, respond to that."