NASHUA – Sen. John McCain wore the look of a confident man yesterday as his campaign bus rolled through the Merrimack Valley, just one day after former Gov. Mike Huckabee's surprise victory in Iowa shook up the Republican race for President.

The landscape seemed different yesterday for Republicans in New Hampshire, a state that just a month ago was considered a stronghold for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Romney took a distant second in Iowa Thursday, a disappointing finish that could only heighten the pressure on him to win the nation's first primary, just a few days from now.

Now, McCain and Romney are sprinting toward the finish line, mindful of the potential juggernaut at their backs -- Huckabee.

McCain made light of his own fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, telling an audience in Hollis he phoned up the third-place finisher, former Sen. Fred Thompson, to say, "I'm demanding a recount!"

"He hasn't called me back," the long-serving Arizona senator said.

McCain said he drew two lessons from the Iowa caucuses: that negative ads don't work, and that, "If you're a person who is trustworthy, you can do well."

He also said he agrees with the "overwhelming media view" of Sen. Barack Obama's victory in the Democratic caucuses: Obama "is seen as a fresh face, and a lot of people, particularly younger ones, seem to be looking for that."

Romney struck a similar chord while attacking McCain yesterday, saying, "People are saying they want to see Washington change, and John McCain is not a candidate of change."

A businessman-turned-politician, Romney cast himself before a crowd of supporters in Portsmouth yesterday as an outsider who can change Washington.

"I changed a business," he said during the early-morning rally. "I helped change the Olympics. I helped change a state, and I'm going to change Washington. We're going to take it apart, put it back together again, this time smarter, smaller and simpler."

Heading into Iowa, Romney and McCain had been running nearly neck and neck in polls of New Hampshire Republicans. Pollsters were scrambling yesterday to see how the caucus results would affect those two candidates and just how big of a bounce Huckabee could be expected to receive.

Dean Lacy, a professor of government at Dartmouth College, said Huckabee's success with young voters and women in Iowa gives hope to the former Baptist minister that he can expand his base here quickly. Before the caucuses, most New Hampshire polls put Huckabee's support between 9 percent and 10 percent, enough to stay even with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for third place.

"Mike Huckabee is not expected to do well here, so he has nothing to lose," Lacy said. "A third-place finish, even a fourth-place finish, for Huckabee could be grounds for him to declare victory."

Huckabee has downplayed his chances in New Hampshire, saying first place "might be a little much." He suggested his chances were better in South Carolina and Florida.

The fallout from a loss in New Hampshire may be more direct for Romney, who has greatly outspent his opponents here but has yet to register well in national polls. For him, Lacy said, a win in New Hampshire is "absolutely necessary."

Giuliani, too, has kept expectations low for his campaign in the Granite State. He was on the stump in Salem and Nashua yesterday and said he plans to keep campaigning in New Hampshire through the weekend.

"We are going to do well here," he told reporters. "I'm very optimistic. I think our strategy is a good strategy."

McCain was jocular on the campaign trail yesterday, despite a horde of television and print reporters surrounding him at all times. He repeatedly complimented Huckabee, calling him a "likeable, decent human being" and said whatever differences they have on taxes or national security are "respectful differences."

His stops yesterday drew a large number of voters who described themselves as undecided. In both Nashua and Hollis, several would-be voters said they remain torn between McCain and Romney. One voter, Anita Beaulieu of Hollis, said she's seen McCain three times and Romney once, and still she was on the fence.

Tim Dame, who works for BAE Systems in Nashua, said he "hasn't been able to align himself fully" with any candidate yet. He said he was concerned about Romney's television ads claiming McCain has supported "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. (McCain said that is a distortion of his position.)

"I want a clarification from John McCain himself," Dame said.

New Hampshire pollster Dick Bennett said he suspects Republican voters have been slower to make up their minds this year because the race lacks a clear front-runner.

Results of Bennett's first post-Iowa poll won't be released until this afternoon, he said. Huckabee's numbers are sure to rise, he said, but McCain's should rise, too, despite his weak showing in Iowa. McCain didn't spend as much time in Iowa as some of his opponents did. He returned to New Hampshire Thursday night.

"John McCain had the state to himself for a week, and he took advantage of it," Bennett said. "I think his campaign is really in high gear because of it. It's almost as good as an Iowa bounce."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.