Romney-McCain battle heats up in 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 early-voting state.

"The people of New Hampshire do not respond favorably to negative campaigns," he said.

Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, is virtually tied with McCain for first in the polls in New Hampshire. McCain, who won the state in 2000, arrived there after Romney spent two days of campaigning at coffee shops, town-hall meetings and a ski resort.

During his New Hampshire swing, Romney attacked McCain for his stances on taxes and immigration. He also made the criticisms a theme of an ad he launched.

While touring Iowa on Friday, Romney defended the ad. "If the opponent is pleased with their position on the issue they shouldn't consider it a negative ad," he said. "If they don't like their position on their issue they should apologize for their position in the past and change their position

."

The surge by McCain, whose campaign was seen as all-but-dead by pundits last summer, comes as Romney is battling former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in Iowa. Next Thursday, Iowa begins the state-by-state battle to choose Democratic and Republican candidates. New Hampshire holds its primary five days later on January 8.

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

With Huckabee now rising in Iowa, Romney may see New Hampshire as his best chance to win an early-voting state, said Thomas Whalen, a Boston University political scientist.

The state is "home turf" for Romney, who owns a home on Lake Winnipesaukee and is known to voters here from his term as Massachusetts governor. "If he does lose in New Hampshire, the ball game is over for him," Whalen said.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is concentrating on 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 but he has struggled in Iowa to woo the state's influential evangelical conservatives. Some are wary of Romney's Mormon faith and prefer 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.

"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 who has been tested nationally."

On immigration, Romney has criticized McCain's support for a bill backed by President George W. Bush that would have given illegal aliens a path to legalized status.

While analysts say going on the attack in a primary election can be risky, the immigration criticisms resonated with voter John Murphy, a Vietnam veteran like McCain who is torn between the two candidates. He is leaning toward Romney.

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

(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan)

(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)