Come one, come all

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- It's like a giant Big Top here on Elm Street, the spine of this politically rabid city for the next 24 hours. The attractions never stop.

A carload of young Barack Obama supporters, waving signs furiously out the windows, drove by in an SUV a little while ago blasting Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," an expression of confidence if there ever were one. Duncan Hunter, the third-tier Republican hopeful, was walking around, but it was unclear many people knew who he was. And two musically gifted Dennis Kucinich supporters were playing ballads for their man outside the Merrimack Restaurant.

Their performance captured the attention of Democratic candidate Mike Gravel, who stopped, bounced up and down to the music, and smiled at them. ``I really like your song,'' he told them. Gravel then gave the young musicians his card -- with his cell phone number -- and said he'd be in touch.

John McCain's bus, meanwhile, just pulled up to City Hall Plaza, where he has been leading a rally. But as his wife, Cindy, was talking about how New Hampshire "really, truly feels like home," a few youngish Ron Paul supporters decided to quietly crash the party, hoisting sail-sized signs above their heads. One of their compatriots across the street was much less decorous, screaming "No amnesty!" at the top of his lungs.

But for all the politicking, sign-waving, honking, and interviewing clogging up the city's downtown, tomorrow night the spectacle ends, and peace again will dawn on Manchester.

Susan Milligan of the Globe staff contributed to this report