Voters' questions increase as N.H. primaries near

KEENE, N.H. -- Stephanie and Hugh Montgomery and their daughter, Katie, are waiting for the doors to open at a town hall meeting with Democratic presidential contender John Edwards that also features singers Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne.

"My daughters are pushing hard, 'Vote your conscience,' " says Stephanie Montgomery, 58. "But I want us to go into the general election with a Democratic candidate I am certain can win." She worries about the "hatred" she sees among some voters toward Hillary Rodham Clinton and wonders, "Does Barack Obama have enough acumen to run the White House?"

As the Jan. 8 primary draws closer, more political questions seem to be getting raised than answered. The results from New Hampshire likely will propel some candidacies and end others. But the contests in both parties are tightening, making predictions perilous, and more than 40% of those surveyed in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll this week say they may change their minds.

For some independents, that uncertainty extends to whether they'll vote in the Democratic contest or the Republican one. Gail and Bill Tousignant drove through a snowstorm to attend a town hall at Pelham High School with Arizona Sen. John McCain. But she's also considering a vote for Clinton. "I just like her issues, and I think to have a woman in the White House would be different," she says.

The two primaries are dominated by very different issues. Republicans and independents who are "leaning" toward the GOP rank illegal immigration as their No. 1 issue. Among Democrats, just 3% call it the most important issue.

For Democrats, Iraq is the top concern, followed by health care.

"I'm a health care voter," Sandra Burt, 65, declares before a roundtable with Illinois Sen. Obama starts at a Concord restaurant serendipitously called The Common Man. Laid off six months ago, she is struggling to pay for medicine that costs $2,900 a month for an auto-immune disorder.

During the roundtable, tears stream down Burt's cheeks as she describes her family's efforts to cope. "My husband has sold his truck, and he's cashed in his life insurance," she says. She asks Obama how high her prescription co-payments would be under his plan.