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The Obama family of Kenya cheer on their favorite son

Seated on plastic chairs surrounded by chickens and barefoot children, Barack Obama's Kenyan relatives listened to the radio for news of how their favorite son was doing in the New Hampshire primary.

The early results were encouraging on Tuesday, bringing a whoop of satisfaction from the candidate's uncle.

"Ah, that's wonderful," Said Obama declared, breaking into a wide grin. "But I don't want to jump just yet."

Results of the New Hampshire voting did not become clear until well after midnight in Kenya, with Obama finishing a close second to Hillary Clinton.

"I am still fired up and ready to go," he told cheering supporters.

Said Obama remained optimistic, saying yesterday: "He still stands a good chance. I don't think it's too much of a setback because there was a time he was trailing Hillary and if he was the kind of man who gives up, he would have given up then."

Kogelo, the western Kenyan village of Barack Obama's father, has been spared the political and ethnic violence that has erupted in Kenya after last month's disputed presidential election. But it is just 90 minutes' drive from a town where torched and looted buildings bear testimony to the clashes that have left more than 500 people dead and the turmoil in Kenya, as well as his nephew's political success, were on Said Obama's mind.

While the dispute is political, violence has pitted other tribes -- such as the Obamas' Luo -- against the Kikuyu of President Mwai Kibaki, who have long dominated politics and the economy in Kenya.

If Barack Obama were in Kenya today, he would "work with the leadership to bring them to a round table and find a solution to the problems that have been ravaging the country," his uncle said.

Obama, speaking on Tuesday in New Hampshire, said he urged that "all the leaders there, regardless of their position on the election, tell their supporters to stand down, to desist with the violence and resolve in a peaceful way in accordance with Kenyan law."

Obama was coordinating his efforts with the US State Department, his advisers said, and has discussed the situation with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

On his last visit to Kenya, in August 2006, Obama touched on themes not normally debated openly here, criticizing the high-level corruption and the tribal politics that have dominated the country since its 1963 independence from Britain. Both have played a role in the postelection violence.

Inside his grandmother's cinderblock home, framed photos of Obama's 2006 visit and an earlier one in 1987 lined the walls, alongside a signed election poster from his Senate race. Sarah Hussein Obama, wearing a brightly patterned dress and sandals decorated with shells and beads, sat in a wooden chair in the immaculate living room, waiting for news of her grandson.
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