Obama under fire after win

Nashua, New Hampshire: Barack Obama's bid to be America's first black president is under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike before political debates to help voters pick who to vote for in New Hampshire's primary.

A day after his unexpected victory as Iowa's choice for the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama's message of hope and change was derided by both Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney - the leaders of the Democratic and Republican fields here.

"Did you listen to Barack Obama?" Romney, the former governor of neighbouring Massachusetts seeking to become America's first Mormon president, said at a late Friday rally.

"He is a new face, but gosh when you listen to what comes out of his mouth. It's like, 'We're going to just get our troops out of Iraq,'" Romney said. "Have you thought about the consequences?"

Romney, who unexpectedly lost in Iowa to Baptist preacher and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, was referring to Obama's promise to get US troops out of Iraq.

False hopes

And Clinton said: "I know the next president will embody the hopes and dreams of all of us, but I also know they cannot be false hopes."

Tuesday's New Hampshire primaries will help decide who runs in November's election to succeed US President George W. Bush. "We have to pick a president who is ready on Day One to do the job, the tough and difficult job," said Clinton, seeking to become America's first female president.

Clinton and Obama spoke to the same Democratic rally on Friday evening. Yesterday faced off against each other in a controversial televised debate.

The prime-time back-to-back debates on ABC -first for Republicans and then Democrats - had a reduced field.

Republican Duncan Hunter and Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel were excluded by organisers and Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd quit after poor returns in Iowa.

ABC only allowed candidates into the debate if they finished in the top four in Iowa or secured five per cent in New Hampshire or national polls.

Kucinich's campaign filed an emergency complaint with the US Federal Communications Commission late on Friday saying the network was, "violating its obligation to operate in the public interest" by excluding candidates.

The first debate yesterday was between Romney; Senator John McCain, who won the 2000 New Hampshire primary; Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York City during the 9/11 attacks; Huckabee; anti-war candidate Representative Ron Paul of Texas; and former Senator Fred Thompson, also known as an actor on TV's Law and Order.

The Democratic field was smaller - Clinton; Obama; former Senator John Edwards, who edged Clinton into second place in Iowa; and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who served in Bill Clinton's cabinet.

ABC said the tight field allowed Americans to hear more from each candidate.

Major issues

Candidates sat in a semi-circle and for 45 minutes ABC News anchor Charles Gibson posed three major issues aimed at getting the politicians to debate among themselves as if at a dinner party.

There were no time constraints on how long a candidate spoke and Gibson only intervened if needed to push the debate forward or calm an argument.

The second half of each 90-minute debate was more traditional with Gibson and a colleague for ABC's local affiliate WMUR asking specific questions of candidates.

ABC arranged the debate in conjunction with Facebook and some of the questions posed were generated from issues raised by members of the popular networking site on a joint Facebook/ABC page which has been posting a daily question.