Romney and McCain focus firepower on New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, closing in on Mitt Romney's once-commanding lead in New Hampshire, arrived in the state on Friday and immediately shot back at his rival, who had spent much of the past two days here blasting McCain.

"Mitt Romney attacks when people are catching up with him," McCain said before boarding his "Straight-Talk Express" bus for six days of campaign events in the state that holds the nation's first nominating primary of the 2008 presidential election cycle.

"The people of New Hampshire do not respond favorably to negative campaigns," McCain said. "That is not what the people of New Hampshire want."

Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, is virtually tied with McCain for first in New Hampshire as they compete in a seven-man field to be the Republican Party's nominee in the November 2008 presidential election.

McCain, who won the New Hampshire primary in 2000, arrived in the state after Romney wrapped up two days of campaigning at ski resorts, coffee shops and town-hall meetings.

The surge by McCain, whose campaign was seen as all-but-dead by pundits last summer, comes as Romney has lost his front-runner status in Iowa to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Next Thursday, Iowa begins the state-by-state battle to choose Democratic and Republican candidates.

Romney, who would be the first Mormon president if elected, has been viewed as a favorite for the Republican nomination because of his large campaign war chest and edge in early states.

With Huckabee now rising in Iowa, Romney is focusing on New Hampshire's January 8 primary contest as his best opportunity to win an early-voting state, said Thomas Whalen, a Boston University political scientist.

"New Hampshire is his home turf, he has a strong organization and the hope is that he will come here and show that he is a viable Republican candidate," Whalen said. "If he does lose in New Hampshire, the ball game is over for him."

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is aiming his campaign strategy around big states like Florida and New York, is a distant third in polls in New Hampshire.

ROMNEY'S 'TWO-FRONT WAR'

Romney has cast himself as a social conservative who opposes abortion and pushes a hard line on immigration but has struggled in Iowa for the support of evangelical conservatives, a core Republican constituency in the state. Some of those voters are wary of Romney's Mormon faith and are gravitating toward Huckabee, a Baptist minister.

"It's a two-front war," said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom. "We have a unique set of challenges in Iowa and the main competitor is Mike Huckabee and we have a unique set of challengers here and the main competitor is John McCain."

Romney's religion is not an issue to New Hampshire's more secular voters but he has been accused of shifting views on issues like abortion and has been harshly criticized by some major newspapers in the state.

Romney was labeled a "phony" by the Concord Monitor while the conservative Union-Leader newspaper said he lacked integrity. Both newspapers endorsed McCain.

"Over the long term, Romney may have more to fear from John McCain" than from Huckabee, said Stephen Wayne, professor of government at Georgetown University. "McCain is a better-known candidate has been tested nationally. We know his weaknesses."

While analysts say going on the attack in a primary election is always risky, Romney may have few other choices.

He has put particular emphasis on his criticism of McCain's support for a bill backed by President George W. Bush that would have given illegal aliens a path to legalized status.

Such criticisms resonate with voters like sales engineer John Murphy, who is a Vietnam veteran like McCain and is torn between the two Republican candidates.

As he waited to greet Romney in Hooksett on Wednesday, Murphy, 63, said he was leaning toward the former governor.

"Being a veteran, McCain is a hero of mine," Murphy said. "But I don't like his views on immigration."

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

(Editing by Jackie Frank and Bill Trott)