Feeling The Bern: Sanders Rocks New Hampshire

Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders bursts onto the stage to raucous cheers from his adoring fans: "This is a loud and boisterous crowd!" he says. He's right.

The packed Manchester school gym is sweltering under blazing lights.

Sanders, 74, whips off his jacket before flinging it to a delighted female supporter - he knows there's humour in the image of a bespectacled, balding senator playing rock star.

He's laughing at himself and the crowd love him all the more for it. Bernie Sanders is stripping away the political veneer - charming voters and winning hearts along the way.

In my experience of covering Donald Trump rallies the love in the room for Bernie feels more palpable.

They like him because they see him as authentic.

One woman says: "I've never been to one of these and I'm not politically minded but he's making me become that way."

Another younger woman tells me: "I'm driving down the road, I see Bernie signs everywhere. We love him because he's the people's candidate."

It's clear that people find him relatable and approachable.

For some voters that's exactly what Democratic rival Hillary Clinton lacks.

Clinton won New Hampshire in 2008 and during that campaign a rare emotional moment made headlines.

In a Portsmouth cafe she was asked simply: "How do you do it?"

When answering she welled up and almost cried: "This is very personal for me. It's not just political. It's not just public. I see what's happening and we have to reverse it."

The emotive question was asked by Portsmouth local Marianne Pernold. We met her in that same cafe, and she says that rare moment of vulnerability strengthened Clinton's campaign.

Her advice to Clinton eight years on?

"Look people in the eye, get to know them. You don't have to get to know the entire audience, just get to know one or two people.

"That's what happened between us - we connected. I'm getting chills just thinking about it. We connected, one on one, for five, six, seven seconds, and look how powerful that was."

At Clinton's field office in Manchester, volunteers are making the final push to get undecided voters on board.

It's a small set-up with old fashioned land lines and doughnuts.

Some calls turn into a Hillary celebration, others end quickly. Voters literally come in from the street and start making calls.

One of them is lawyer Eldie Acheson, who was once Hillary's college classmate. She says she's still the smart, idealistic woman she first met 50 years ago.

"I think she's a person who gets very energised by campaigning and understands with every hand she shakes and every personal story that she hears another cylinder gets lighted. And I think she keeps getting reminded on every little piece of the way why she's doing this."

Clinton's campaign is pitching her as the experienced, realistic candidate who stands the best chance of winning the presidency in nine months' time.

Sanders' call for change and revolution is attracting swathes of young voters who seem genuinely inspired by him. Right now, in the first Democratic primary of 2016, it's a battle of head versus heart.