Illinois Sen. Barack Obama made his first visit to New Hampshire yesterday, drawing the kinds of crowds and news media attention usually reserved for a sitting president or a presidential nominee. The trip fueled speculation of a possible 2008 presidential bid and showed the first-term senator's marquee appeal.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Jim Demers, a lobbyist and former Democratic lawmaker who met Obama at the airport Saturday night and accompanied him throughout the events yesterday. "A lot of people have compared it to the days when Bobby Kennedy was running for president. I don't think we've seen it since."

Addressing a crowd of more than 1,600 in Manchester, Obama urged Democrats to harness the momentum of last month's election and craft an agenda that reaches beyond party lines. After years of partisan bickering and "slash-and-burn politics," Obama said, Americans are yearning for a new style of leadership.

"There's no reason why we can't create a system where everybody has decent health care. There is no reason why we can't have energy independence in this country," Obama said. "There is no reason why we can't craft a national security strategy that is tough and smart, because what we've seen is tough and dumb.

"That's not a Democratic agenda or a Republican agenda," he said. "That's an American agenda."

But first, there was the issue of his sellout appearances. On a day when Sen. Evan Bayh, also a possible presidential candidate, spoke to several dozen Democrats at New Hampshire events, Obama drew a standing-room only crowd and 150 credentialed journalists. Obama was quick to try to contain the excitement, deeming himself "suspicious of hype."

"It's flattering to get a lot of attention, although I must say it's baffling, particularly to my wife," Obama said. "I think to some degree, I've become a shorthand or a symbol or a stand-in for a spirit that the last election in New Hampshire represents. It's a spirit that says we are looking for something different."

If Obama chooses to run, that "something different" would mean more money for college education, a strategy for combating global warming and a radically distinct foreign policy, he said. Obama, who opposed the war in Iraq, sharply criticized the Bush administration's handling of the conflict.

In the last election, voters showed that they "understand that the might of our military has to be matched by the strength of our diplomacy," Obama said. "We can't just waste our most precious resource - our young men and women . . . unless we know that their sacrifice will have been worth it."

Obama praised the political machine that led to New Hampshire Democrats' Election Day sweep, which tipped the balance of power in the House, Senate, Executive Council and both congressional districts. The growing support for newly elected U.S. Reps. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter "was a little bit under the radar screen," Obama said. "You took some folks by surprise, but not me."

Although the presidential field is just beginning to take shape, expectation for a possible Obama run has heightened in the six weeks since he said he was considering a White House bid. In a news conference before the Manchester event, Obama said that he hasn't decided whether to run for president.

Before deciding, he will "make sure that our family would not be adversely affected by it," said Obama, who has two young daughters.

Some political analysts have questioned Obama's relative lack of political experience: He served seven years in the Illinois state Senate before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. His ascent to the national scene dates to the 2004 Democratic convention, where he delivered the keynote address.

"Certainly he's a very hot commodity right now. And he may stay up, and he may not," said Bill Shaheen, the husband of former governor Jeanne Shaheen. Democrats are "looking for someone new and someone who has a new voice, and I think they're all kind of pinning their hopes on Obama."

But if yesterday's reception was any indication, Obama would receive a rapturous welcome in most parts of the Granite State.

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