Romney, McCain clash over economic credentials

PENSACOLA, Florida (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney sharply criticized John McCain on Friday, accusing the self-styled straight-talking senator of arrogantly exaggerating his knowledge of the U.S. economy.

The gloves came off in the hotly contested Florida race just days before the primary vote on Tuesday and a day after the five Republicans met in a gentlemanly debate where they praised one another and reserved their attacks for Democratic archrival Hillary Clinton.

Democrats and Republicans are waging state-by-state contests to pick nominees for the November presidential election to succeed President George W. Bush. With worries mounting about a possible recession, the economy has become the major issue for voters, and Romney used concerns about losing jobs overseas to defeat McCain in the Michigan primary.

McCain defended his understanding of the U.S. economy, pointing out he was in Congress during President Ronald Reagan's economic reforms and had well-known friends and advisers widely respected in conservative economic circles.

"I'm proud of -- back in the '80s when none of these other guys were in any way involved -- being part of the Reagan Revolution which brought about the strongest period of economic growth in American history. I was there on the ground," McCain told reporters on his bus, the "Straight Talk Express."

McCain's remarks drew ridicule from Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who made a fortune working as the head of a firm that bought companies and then sold them again after trying to make them more efficient, often by cutting jobs.

"I think he has detoured from what was straight talk," Romney told a rally of about 200 supporters in Pensacola, saying McCain had often previously acknowledged his deficit on a broad range of economic issues.

"I think that is straight talk," he said. "Now he is engaging in Washington talk."

"Washington talk says that somehow because you've been in Washington and you've been on a committee, that somehow you know how jobs in this country are created," Romney said, adding there's "an arrogance that sets into Washington, that they somehow know everything."

McCain countered that his Washington experience was more relevant than Romney's private-sector background and that of rival Rudy Giuliani as mayor of New York.

"My experience directly addressing the issues that affect America's economy (count) far more than running an investment company, or being mayor or governor," McCain said.

IMPORTANT TEST

Florida is the largest state to vote so far and is an important test of Republican support because only party members are allowed to participate. McCain, a maverick in Republican circles, has often angered Republican constituencies and draws much of his support from independents.

A poll this week by The Miami Herald put McCain in a statistical tie with Romney, giving him 25 percent of the state's Republican vote, compared with Romney's 23 percent and Giuliani's 15 percent.

Democrats vote on Saturday in the South Carolina presidential nominating contest. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama appealed to voters in the state on pocketbook issues on Friday, while Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, vowed to shake up Washington if she won.

"I don't need to go back and live in the White House. I've done that," she told supporters. "I want to go back and change the country."

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Florida and John Whitesides and Ellen Wulfhorst in South Carolina; Writing by David Alexander and Peter Cooney)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)