WINDHAM, N.H. — The swirling vortex of the presidential nomination process landed in this state early Tuesday morning, powered by staffers bleary from little sleep and candidates committed to wins in a contest that for many is do-or-die.
With “Jeb!’’ and “Bernie for President’’ signs jostling for space on highway dividers and standing room only at candidate events across the southern tier, New Hampshire claimed the focus of a race that has veered unpredictably for months, taking its latest turn Monday night in Iowa with Donald Trump temporarily dethroned and Hillary Clinton buoyed.
“Y’all treat politics like we treat football in Texas!’’ US Senator Ted Cruz shouted in triumphant greeting at a rally here, recycling a line he’d used in Iowa before his Monday win in the Republican caucuses there.
With seven days before the first-in-the-nation primary, candidates descended on veterans halls and churches and town halls while their staffs announced a torrent of events for the next week, including 19 for Governor John Kasich of Ohio, 17 for Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, 16 for Senator Ted Cruz, 12 for Senator Marco Rubio, 10 for former Florida governor Jeb Bush, and three for Trump.
Kasich, who has been a fixture in New Hampshire for months and skipped the Iowa caucuses to increase his chances here, held his 90th town hall in Newbury in the morning, with two more planned for the afternoon — a feverish but necessary pace for a candidate who has said he must do well in the state to continue his presidential campaign.
“What else can you do?’’ he asked the seated crowd at Veteran’s Hall, his tone quizzical, though it was unclear if the question was rhetorical. “When you do everything you can possibly do?’’
With polls showing 44 percent of Republicans could still change their minds, hundreds made lunchtime runs to campaign events, hoping that a peek at the candidates up-close might help make up minds.
“We are bombarded by commercials and I wanted to come see for myself,’’ said Cheryl Cortez, 41, a housewife, recently transplanted to New Hampshire from the Midwest, who remains uncommitted.
Others came for the sport.
“I’m just here for the mishegas,’’ Ed Salomon said, using the Yiddish word for craziness. A semi-retired lawyer and New Jersey Democrat, Salomon stood at the back of the room at the Cruz rally, a stop on his quadrennial New Hampshire tour of the state’s primary spectacle.
Hundreds of Clinton supporters packed the gymnasium at Nashua Community College, many lining the second-floor track and looking down on the candidate from above. Shouts of support drowned out Clinton’s words at times, with the crowd unbowed by a 40-minute wait to get into the echoing space.
For leading candidates, the day began in hurried craziness. With blizzard-like conditions forecast for Des Moines, journalists, campaign operatives, and candidates rushed to catch flights east to Manchester and the next chapter in the race. Ben Carson departed for Florida, saying he needed to get clean clothes. Bernie Sanders boarded a charter flight as soon as his speech at the Holiday Inn was finished.
Four charter jets ferrying political entourages landed one after the other in the wee hours at the Manchester airport, sending a bipartisan throng to jockey for cabs and search together for luggage using iPhone flashlights.
Sanders took a few questions from reporters and greeted supporters who had waited overnight to see him arrive in his neighboring state, where he’s expected to enjoy home-court advantage.
Rubio was at the Airport Diner in Manchester early enough to appear on “Good Morning America.’’
For a man who came in second in Iowa, there was no shortage of frenzied welcome at a rally in Keene.
“It sounds to me like you’re ready for a political revolution,’’ Sanders told the roaring crowd as he took the stage at the Colonial Theater in Keene.
At an evening Trump rally in Milford, a line snaked outside the Hampshire Hills Athletic Club. Supporters bought Trump merchandise and awaited the GOP front-runner and his latest endorser, former senator Scott Brown.
By day’s end, Kasich seemed reenergized, buoyed by a sense that perhaps his 91st town hall might do the trick.
“All the media are like, ‘What are you going to do in the last seven days?’ Kasich said, flapping his arms wildly like a flightless bird and drawing laughter from the crowd of 125 at a Claremont town hall-styled event.
Kasich shrugged and rolled his eyes.
“I’m extremely calm here,’’ he said. “We’re going to keep working like the dickens — no Hail Mary passes — and at the end of the day, it will be out of my hands because we will have done everything we can.’’
Akilah Johnson, Annie Linskey, Eric Moskowitz, Andrew Ryan and Matt Viser of the Globe staff contributed. Sarah Schweitzer can be reached at sschweitzer@globe.com.
