Parlaying crowds into action

Drawing nearly 10,000 people to his rally on Boston Common last night may be nice, but what will that support really mean to Barack Obama in the days ahead? The Obama campaign has begun to tabulate it.

The campaign says it had 225 volunteers at the event, which featured Governor Deval Patrick. More than 500 additional people signed up on-site to volunteer for Obama's campaign, and another 1,100 signed up online yesterday to do the same. The campaign hopes those new recruits will take part in door-knocking efforts in New Hampshire on Nov. 10 and Nov. 24.

"Our hope is that we will continue to work with the Patrick team to grow our grassroots team in Boston," said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

At this point, he needs the help in New Hampshire, where polls show rival Hillary Clinton with a sizable lead.