DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama came up a big winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch, N.H., where the nation's first Election Day votes were cast and counted early Tuesday.

Obama defeated John McCain 15-6. Independent Ralph Nader was also on the ballot, but received no votes.

The first voter, following tradition established in 1948, was picked ahead of the midnight voting and the rest of the town's 19 registered voters followed suit in Tuesday's first minutes.

Town Clerk Rick Erwin says the northern New Hampshire town is proud of its tradition, but says the most important thing is that the turnout represents 100 percent vote.

President Bush won the vote in Dixville Notch in 2004 on the way to his re-election.

College students across the country today will overwhelmingly support Senator Barack Obama’s nomination for presidency, according to nearly every measure of political support.

A recent poll of Cornell students’ preferences unsurprisingly confirmed that students here would not be an anomaly to the national trend. When The Sun’s editorial board endorsed Obama last week, it similarly conformed to a national trend.

Of the college newspapers that UWire, a college wire news service, surveyed, Obama received more endorsements than his rival Senator John McCain by an 86 to 2 margin.

The Daily Mississippian at the University of Mississippi and the Mesa State Criterion at Mesa State College in Colorado were the only two college newspapers in UWire’s survey to support McCain.

Earlier this week, Cornell’s Survey Research Institute, along with CBS, UWIRE and the Chronicle of Higher Education, released a study examining Cornell students’ political views towards the upcoming election versus students residing in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Colorado. Six days before the election, the survey highlights the unique opinions of students, a demographic often ignored in political polls that rely on landline phone calls.

Students have historically had the lowest voter registration rates in the country. The survey shows that a higher percentage of Cornell students have registered to vote than students living in swing states, but a smaller percentage of Cornell students actually plan to vote.

Nearly six years into a failing war and in the midst of the greatest economic crisis this country has faced in nearly a century, America needs an uncommon leader. After four years in the national spotlight, Sen. Barack Obama has proven himself to be that leader. It is for that reason that we endorse Obama’s candidacy for president of the United States.

Dear Sen. McCain,

As we approach what many will call the final stretch of an historic campaign, I would like to formally commend you for your valiant effort. You may be aware, as it is widely accepted, that I posses a significant lead in all polls, to be the next President of the United States. Now let us not get ahead of ourselves; the race is far from over. However, I believe that the American people are ready for change and that I will soon be elected President of the United States of America.

McCain’s stock has fallen precipitously. As he continues to plummet in the polls, a quick recovery seems less and less likely. Atop of his campaign sinking, Sen. John McCain must be Greatly Depressed to watch as the intellectual right abandons ship to invest in rival presidential nominee Barack Obama.

With the election less than two weeks away, Obama has racked up a lengthy list of conservative supporters such as former Republican congressmen Jim Leach and Wayne Gilchrest, former Republican senators Lowell Weicker and Lincoln Chafee, former Reagan administration advisors Douglas Kmiec, Francis Fukuyama, Larry Hunter and Bill Ruckelshaus, as well as many conservative commentators including Jeffrey Hart, Christopher Buckley, Andrew Sullivan, and Michael Smerconish.