Obama and McCain strike early blows in Vermont, Kentucky

Barack Obama will win Vermont while John McCain will carry Kentucky, both as expected, in the first projections of the US presidential election.

Both candidates largely bypassed both states during the 21-month, €1.8bn election, one of the longest and most expensive in history.

As the first state-wide polls closed, a national CNN exit poll showed the US economy was the number one issue for 62% of voters, followed by the Iraq war (10%), terrorism and healthcare (both 9%) and energy policy (7%).

The first results gave Mr McCain eight and Mr Obama three of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Earlier, in keeping with tradition, voting began at the stroke of midnight in a handful of remote towns in the north-eastern state of New Hampshire.

The residents of Dixville Notch have been meeting in the town’s ballot room at midnight each election day since 1960.

Mr Obama won the town’s poll by 15 votes to six for Mr McCain – a landslide victory after more than 40 years of Republican loyalty.