When Barack Obama appeared here Tuesday for a town-hall-style discussion on healthcare, the Illinois Democrat had yet to announce his stunning fundraising totals for the first quarter of 2007.

But the political world had a hunch the numbers would be huge – perhaps even rivaling those of his chief opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. And they did: Senator Obama raised $25 million to her $26 million. The race to top the 2008 Democratic ticket is wide open.

For some New Hampshire voters, though, the big bucks seem more a cause of concern than a reason for excitement. At the healthcare forum, one woman asked Obama if he would be, in essence, a captive of his donors. The senator then hinted at what could be a central challenge of his campaign going forward: maintaining that sense of freshness and "outsider-ness," while playing the insider game of big-league fundraising essential to any successful presidential bid.

"Listen, I would love not to have to raise money so I could spend all my time in town-hall meetings," Obama told voters at the event hosted by the Portsmouth Herald.

He defended himself by saying that throughout his political career, he had sought to limit the influence of money in politics. But, he added, fundraising was a game he had to play to be competitive.

Obama also could have pointed out that a significant portion of his fundraising has come from small donors – those contributing at the $25 and $100 levels, far short of the $4,600 maximum allowed per donor for the primary and general elections combined. The next day, the Obama campaign reported donations from 100,000 people, versus 50,000 contributors for Senator Clinton.

For the legions of candidates competing for both major-party nominations, the money chase – and, arguably just as important, the chase for public attention and media buzz – has never been more intense. And with the compressed nominating schedule, in which the Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina contests are quickly followed by a "big bang" multistate primary on Feb. 5, 2008, New Hampshire is more important than ever. A candidate who fails to do well first in Iowa and then here will have a hard time recovering in subsequent contests.

But to New Hampshire voters, with their decades-long tradition of getting the first look at presidential wannabes in living rooms and VFW halls, there's a feel of business as usual – albeit much earlier in the cycle than in the past.

Voters at events featuring Obama – or "Obommer," in the local brogue – spoke well of him, but few seemed ready to commit firmly to vote for him when New Hampshire holds its primary next January (or possibly in December). New Hampshirites who appreciate their early-decider role like to take stock of as many candidates as possible, in person, before calling themselves firm supporters of anyone.

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