Eight years ago, 391,441 people voted with 61.3% voting for Republican candidates and 38.7% for Democrats. Yesterday, in the results counted so far, 521,924 voted with 54.4% voting for Democrats and 45.6% for Republicans.
In raw numbers so far, 2,000 fewer people voted for Republican candidates and 132,000 more people voted for Democrats.
While McCain's win was impressive given how he was pretty much left for dead, it falls far short of what he achieved in 2000. That year he captured 118,810 votes. So far, he has fallen roughly 30,000 voters shy of that. 30.4% of all voters in 2000 voted for McCain, while this year 16.9% chose him.
The narrative will be that McCain gives the Democrats the most problems, but his crossover appeal has dimmed considerably since 2000, and as Iowa and New Hampshire has made clear, the entire ballgame has changed in profound ways since 2000.
NH appears to be a Democratic state now anyway so the shifts you cite largely confirm what we already know.
I do agree with you that the Republicans have a lot of problems. Their electoral college majority is clearly in jeopardy and maybe disintegrating. I just think it would be a mistake to underestimate John McCain at this early point.
Also, McCain has not faced a tough campaign from a Democrat in decades. Let's see how 100 year in Iraq holds up.