Republican presidential frontrunners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney barnstormed high-stakes New Hampshire, with Gingrich vowing to roll back President Barack Obama's "radical socialism" and Romney warning against "a path to make us more like Europe."
The two candidates spent a cold, sleet-filled day in this state, whose first-in-the-nation Jan. 10 primary is less than three weeks away.
Republican contests in many states, beginning with the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, will determine the nominee who will face Obama next November.
A jeans-wearing Romney and his wife, Ann, dished up spaghetti for voters at the end of the first evening of a three-day bus tour through New Hampshire.
Gingrich hosted a town hall meeting, making a none-too-subtle dig at Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, by quipping he might host a "Please don't turn America into Massachusetts" rally.
Romney holds a big lead in New Hampshire, which borders Massachusetts, where he was governor from 2003 to 2007.
A recent Suffolk University/7 News poll found Romney ahead, backed by 38 percent of likely Republican voters, followed by Gingrich at 20 percent, and former US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman at 13 percent.
Gingrich, who served for four years as speaker of the US House until 1999, recently jumped to second place in New Hampshire and snagged the influential endorsement of the Manchester Union-Leader newspaper, but has little ground game.
In contrast, Romney's volunteers have knocked on 35,000 doors, placed 245,000 phone calls and put out 13,000 yard signs in New Hampshire.
At his town hall, Gingrich reserved nearly all of his fire for Obama, vowing to ditch the president's controversial health-care law and return to former president Ronald Reagan's philosophy of lower taxes and less government.
"On one side, you have the finest food stamp president in American history. No one has done more to put more people on food stamps than Barack Obama," Gingrich said. "I'd like to be the finest paycheck president in American history."
"I am convinced people are going to vote for paychecks over food stamps. They are going to vote for the American Declaration of Independence over radical socialism. They are going to vote for strength in foreign policy over weakness," Gingrich said.
Gingrich is touting his accomplishments as speaker, having worked with then-president Bill Clinton to pass welfare reform, tax cuts and the first balanced budget in four decades.
But his critics point out fellow Republicans forced him out as speaker because he was a lightning-rod for controversy and he may be hurt with evangelical voters because he has married three times.
Ed Gillis, a 61-year-old retired truck driver from Nashua, N.H., said he leans toward Gingrich because, "I like what he did as speaker: he balanced the budget with a Democratic president. That is huge."
But David Sherman, a 61-year-old retired Marine officer from New Boston, N.H., said he will vote for Romney because "Gingrich has too much baggage."
After serving spaghetti, Romney accused Obama of turning the United States into an "entitlement society" rather than a "merit society."
He added, "I don't believe that a path to make us more like Europe will make us stronger. I don't think Europe is working in Europe. I know it won't work here."
Romney said if the United States doesn't rely more on free markets rather than big government, "we're going to hit a Greek-like or Italy-like wall. That would be catastrophic."
Romney also warned of economic and military competition from China.
China is "building stealth fighters and aircraft carriers. They intend to become strong," Romney said.
Anne-Marie Letourneau, a 69-year-old retiree wearing a Santa Claus cap from Derry, N.H., supports Romney. "He can turn the economy around. He's honest, and I love his wife."
Linda Fowler, a politics expert at Dartmouth College, doesn't foresee an upset by Gingrich in New Hampshire. "Gingrich is not organized in the state, and turnout is everything, especially among Independents."
David Paleologos, the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, expects that the next polls in New Hampshire will show Gingrich's support weakening as national and Iowa polls have detected. "Gingrich is in real jeopardy," said Paleologos.
Copyright 2011 AFP American Edition
