Obama makes major gains on the new CNN Electoral Map.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Polls in five key battleground states in the race for the White House released Tuesday suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is making major gains.

The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls of likely voters in Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin reflect a significant nationwide shift toward the Democratic presidential nominee.

Check out the latest CNN Electoral Map

In Indiana, 51 percent of likely voters say Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is their choice for president, with 46 percent backing Obama. Indiana went for George W. Bush by 21 points four years ago; the Democrats have not carried the state since 1964.

Obama has made significant strides in New Hampshire, a state which is credited with reviving McCain’s GOP primary campaign in both 2000 and 2008. Fifty-three percent of the state’s likely voters are backing Obama, while 45 percent are supporting McCain. Obama’s eight-point lead is larger than the five-point lead held by Obama in the last CNN New Hampshire poll taken in the beginning of September.

Bush squeezed out a slender one-point win in the state in 2000 — but four years ago, John Kerry narrowly carried the one-time GOP stronghold.

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Watch McCain's campaign event on CNN.com/live

(CNN) — Michelle Obama is holding a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin this hour.

Watch the event on CNN.com/live

Watch Sen. McCain's entire Wisconsin victory speech.

(CNN) – Sen. John McCain used his Wisconsin victory speech to train his sights on Sen. Barack Obama, who scored his ninth straight win against Sen. Hillary Clinton Tuesday night.

“I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent call for change,” McCain said, referring to Obama’s key theme and much-discussed style of oratory.

“It’s no more than an eloquent but empty call for change that promises no more than a holiday from history and a return to false promises and failed policies of a tired philosophy that trusts in government more than the people,” said McCain.

“My friends, I’m not the youngest candidate — but I am the most experienced,” McCain also said, taking another shot at Obama.

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

Watch a clip of Sen. Clinton's speech Tuesday night.

(CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks in Youngstown, Ohio after Sen. Barack Obama is projected the winner in Wisconsin's Democratic primary on Tuesday night.

Related: Clinton: Choice is between 'speeches' vs. 'solutions'

(CNN) — The economy was the top concern among Wisconsin Republicans, as it has been in every primary and caucus this year. But John McCain’s supporters had a competing concern in early exit polls — by a narrow 35 percent to 33 percent margin, they were more worried about the war in Iraq than the economy.

McCain’s voters made up 70 percent of those most concerned about Iraq, the polls showed, while Mike Huckabee’s voters made up 39 percent of those most concerned about the economy. Sixty-one percent of the Wisconsin GOP voters said the economy was either not good or poor.

The polls also showed that voters looking for experience tapped McCain, the four-term Arizona senator, while voters looking for a candidate that shares their values chose Huckabee.

McCain speaks to supporters at a rally in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

(CNN) — Half of Wisconsin’s Republican primary voters who said they were very conservative cast their ballots for Mike Huckabee, according to early exit polls. But John McCain, who has been wooing that key GOP voting bloc, managed to pull in 40 percent of that group. Forty-nine percent of somewhat conservative Republicans went for McCain, as did 66 percent moderate voters followed suit.

Evangelical voters still flocked to Huckabee, a one-time Baptist minister.

Overall, McCain and Huckabee split the nearly two-thirds of Wisconsin Republicans who identified themselves as conservatives, with both candidates

taking 45 percent. Ron Paul, the only other Republican still in the race, drew 5 percent of the conservative vote and Mitt Romney – no longer an active candidate — drew 3 percent.

In Wisconsin, 76 percent of the GOP voters said they'd be satisfied if McCain is the GOP nominee. Forty-eight percent said McCain's positions were "about right," but 44 percent said he was "not conservative enough."

A woman casts a paper ballot in Hortonville, Wisconsin.

(CNN) – For Wisconsin’s Democratic primary voters, the most important quality in picking a president this year was change — and most of those voters chose Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton Tuesday, according to early exit polls.

Clinton had a narrow advantage over Obama as most qualified to be commander in chief; Obama was viewed as most likely to unite the country, improve relations with the rest of the world – and beat the Republican nominee this fall.

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

Track the county-by-county results here.

(CNN) — In campaign contests so far, Barack Obama has polled the best among black, more wealthy and educated voters and college students, while rival Hillary Clinton has been able to count on women, low-income voters and blue-collar workers.

But in early exit polls tonight, Obama held Clinton to a virtual tie among Wisconsin Democratic primary voters who said they have a union member in their household — 50 percent for Clinton to 49 percent for Obama — and actually edged her among women, 51 percent to 49 percent.

Clinton held a narrow advantage over Obama among Catholic poll respondents — who made up 43 percent of voters interviewed — 51 percent to 48 percent. She also held narrow leads among voters with only a high school education, people 60 or older and those making between $15,000-$30,000 a year.

But Obama kept those margins close and took easy wins among his traditional base of supporters.

Among voters 49 years old and younger he had a significant 64-39 percent advantage over Clinton. College-educated voters, who made up 72 percent of those polled, favored him 59 percent to 39 percent.

Obama had a slight edge among voters who called themselves Democrats — 50 percent to 49 percent — but overwhelmingly topped Clinton among the 27 percent of respondents who called themselves independents, taking 63 percent of their votes to Clinton's 36 percent.

Two people cast their ballots in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

(CNN) — Exit polls showed 43 percent of Democratic voters in Wisconsin said the economy was the most important issue in deciding their vote — followed by the war in Iraq at 29 percent and health care at 25 percent. Fifty-five percent of those who cited the economy voted for Obama, compared to 43 percent for Clinton.

And 70 percent said U.S. trade with other countries causes the loss of American jobs, while only 17 percent said it creates jobs, and 9 percent said it has no effect. Those who felt trade loses jobs also favored Obama, 54-43 percent.

Track the latest county-by-county results here.

Track the latest county-by-county results here.

(CNN) — There’s a fault line running through Wisconsin’s Democratic primary voters in early exit polls Tuesday. Nearly 6 in 10 percent of voters who support Hillary Clinton said they would be satisfied if Barack Obama was the party’s nominee; 40 percent said they would not. But the reverse doesn’t hold true: a slim majority of Obama voters said they would not be satisfied if Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee.

Likely Republican nominee John McCain, who has struggled to win over his party’s conservative base, fares better in that respect than either of his potential fall opponents: among voters who backed Mike Huckabee in Wisconsin’s GOP primary, 65 percent – — said they’d be happy to support McCain in the fall.

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

People prepare to vote in Saukville, Wisconsin.

(CNN) — Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama emphasized economic themes on the campaign trail Tuesday, echoing primary voters in Wisconsin who cited concerns about the economy, particularly trade, as heavy on their minds.

In early exit polling by CNN, 43 percent of Democratic voters said the economy was the most important issue in deciding their vote — followed by the war in Iraq at 29 percent and health care at 25 percent.

Full story

BROOKFIELD, Wisconsin (CNN) — Wisconsin Republicans voting for front-runner John McCain were narrowly more concerned about the war in Iraq, unlike those who cast their ballots Tuesday for rival Mike Huckabee, who said the economy ranked higher on their minds, according to early exit polls.

Full story

Residents wait in line to cast their votes in Cecil, Wisconsin.

(CNN) — The state of the economy was the most important issue for primary voters in Wisconsin, continuing a trend that has been a constant since campaign season began. In early exit polls, 9 out of 10 Democratic voters Tuesday – and 6 in 10 Republicans — said the economy is struggling. A majority said foreign trade took jobs away from Wisconsin.

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

(CNN) — Voters in the latest battlegrounds for the Democratic presidential nomination faced very different treks to polls and caucuses Tuesday. Wisconsin voters braved single-digit temperatures and a windchill advisory while Hawaii caucus-goers expected to enjoy temperatures in the 80s.

Both groups will shape the course of the tight race between Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, while Wisconsin and Washington state voters could help Sen. John McCain finally knock his last major rival out of the Republican race.

Full story

Sen. Hillary Clinton signed a campaign placard in De Pere, Wisconsin Monday.
(Photo Credit: Mike Roselli/CNN)

Related video: The battle for Wisconsin

Clinton said Saturday she will leave Wisconsin a day earlier than previously planned.

KENOSHA, Wisconsin (CNN) – Hillary Clinton is preparing to take her nomination fight all the way through June and to the Democratic convention in Denver, she told reporters in Wisconsin Saturday.

"I campaigned with my husband until he wrapped up this nomination in June [of 1992]," she said at a press conference here. "I thought it was fun. I had a good time. I am prepared to go the distance."

Her comments echoed those of campaign adviser Harold Ickes, who said on a conference call earlier in the day that neither candidate will earn the 2,025 pledged delegates needed to win the nomination, and that the 796 party insiders known as superdegates should be able to discern on their own which candidate can best "carry the ticket" in November.

Clinton argued that the superdelegates are "supposed to exercise independent judgement" and "make their decisions based on anything they choose to base it on."

"That is their role," she said.

This year's protracted nomination fight, Clinton said, is good for party excitement and is hardly out of the ordinary in American political history.

"I know some of you have only covered the '04 and 2000 campaign, which were really kind of anomalies," she said. "The nominees were determined early. But that's not the usual pattern. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in '92 until June. And usually it takes a while to sort all this out."

The New York senator said she will urge her delegates at the convention to seat the delegations from Michigan and Florida, who voted for Sen. Clinton but had been previously stripped of their convention votes by the Democratic National Committee for holding early primaries.

"If there are contested delegations, the convention votes on them. Those are the rules," she said.

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

Clinton is hitting Wisconsin airwaves.

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is launching its first television ad in Wisconsin Tuesday, a state that may prove crucial to the New York senator should she get swept in Tuesday's Potomac Primary.

The 30-second spot, called "Obligation," highlights Clinton's healthcare plan, with the announcer saying Clinton is "the only candidate for president with a plan to provide health care for every American."

The ad does not mention rival Barack Obama by name, though Clinton often criticizes the Illinois senator for not adopting a healthcare plan that mandates coverage for all Americans.

Following primaries in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia Tuesday, the next battlefront will be Wisconsin, set to vote February 19. The state has a large working-class population – a voting bloc that has leaned toward Clinton in previous contests. It also has a large student population and a sizeable number of Independents — groups that have favored Obama in earlier primaries.

But in a sign the New York Democrat is already looking ahead to the March 4 Ohio and Texas primaries. She's headed to El Paso, Texas Tuesday night and plans to spend all day Wednesday stumping in the delegate-rich state.

Obama, meanwhile, is heading to Madison, Wisconsin Tuesday night. His campaign began airing a television ad there that touts his own healthcare plan earlier this week.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney