Haley backers aim to upend Trump in New Hampshire

STORY: Outside an arena in downtown Manchester, as Trump's supporters lined up in freezing temperatures to hear the former U.S. president lay out his plans for the country, many said their minds were set on voting for him.

"I really love the guy," Carla Marshall said, "And I've never felt that way about a politician before."

"His attitude, his language is sometimes awful. But I don't have to have a president that I like. I have to have a president who runs this country effectively. He does," said David Jones, a registered independent voter who had previously voted for Democrats.

Nick Roy, who traveled for two hours to see Trump, said, "I just like what he did in his last term. I mean, the guy went to North Korea."

Meanwhile, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley sharpened her attacks on the Republican frontrunner, saying he was "obsessed with dictators" such as North Korea's Kim Jong Un, as Trump ramped up his verbal attacks on Haley, including using racial language to target her Indian heritage.

Polling averages show Haley is trailing Trump by 14 points in New Hampshire. Her allies are flooding the moderate state with campaign workers this weekend, with Americans for Prosperity, a political advocacy group backed by conservative billionaire Charles Koch, sending up to 100 extra employees to knock on doors in the final sprint.

"We are out here canvassing and talking to voters, trying to encourage them to go out and vote if they aren't planning to already. And talk to them and see if they're planning on voting for Nikki Haley, if they have any questions," Grace Lattz, a grassroots engagement director for the group, told Reuters during a door-to-door canvassing outing on Saturday.

On New Hampshire's high concentration of college-educated professionals, Greg Moore, an AFP senior advisor, said, "Rural voters and white collar suburban voters vote very differently. And white collar educated voters... they like Nikki Haley, but Donald Trump just rubs them the wrong way, mostly because of the tone."

But with Trump still in the lead, the canvassers have a busy weekend working to make voters like Chris Jay feel more certain about Haley.

"I just think that the theme of a different candidate other than Biden and Trump is just critically important to where we're going. And I would like for her to show tougher and I would like for her to go up against Trump. I just don't know if she can do it. I just hope she can," Jay said.