An independent voter goes for Obama

By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff

HOPKINTON, N.H. -- As Dorcas Kirsch walked up to vote at Hopkinton High School this morning, a crew of her neighbors standing around a huge "HOPE" sign for Barack Obama flagged her down.

"Dorcas!" they called. "You're voting for Obama, right?"

Kirsch, a 50-something independent who owns her own landscaping business, looked a bit sheepish.

"I want to go with him, but I don't want Mitt Romney going in, so I'm voting for McCain," she said.

"No!" the cry went up. What about the war? they asked. What about abortion rights?

Kirsch smiled. "I'm going for Obama."

"Yay!" her neighbors yelled.

If that scene is repeated across the state, it would bode well for Democrat Obama and hurt Republican McCain, who are both counting on undeclared voters, who make up more than 40 percent of the electorate.

Turnout has been heavy in Hopkinton; by noon, 1,261 people had cast ballots in a town with about 4,200 registered voters. Poll workers said many were new voters, and townspeople said many young people in town had come home from college to vote.

Secretary of State William Gardner is predicting a record turnout today, as many as 500,000 voters.