HENNIKER, N.H. - While most of Mitt Romney's competitors zigged across Iowa, the former Massachusetts governor zagged across New Hampshire, trying to fend off a surging John McCain and shore up what was once an impregnable firewall in the Granite State.
Romney, who previously focused much of his attention on Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee, ended a two-day Christmas break by launching repeated broadsides against McCain.
Attacking the Arizona senator's initial proposal on illegal immigration, which McCain has since modified, Romney said: "Under his bill that he fought for, everybody who came here illegally could stay forever. Does he still believe that or not believe that?"
Romney also asked whether McCain "admits that he was wrong" about opposing President Bush's tax cuts.
"I'm happy to talk about times I was wrong," Romney told reporters at a ski lodge in the shadow of Pats Peak. "But I don't recall Senator McCain saying he was wrong to say that all illegal aliens should be able to stay here permanently. Or to say he was wrong to vote against the Bush tax cuts. I think he was on both counts."
Romney, however, once expressed ambivalence about Bush's tax cuts and has taken a harder line on immigration.
McCain's campaign responded with a statement highlighting a New Hampshire Union Leader editorial published yesterday that, like one printed in the Concord Monitor on Sunday, told voters they cannot trust Romney.
"I know something about tailspins, and it's pretty clear Mitt Romney is in one," McCain said in the statement. "It's disappointing that he would launch desperate, flailing, and false attacks in an attempt to maintain relevance. As the Union Leader said today, New Hampshire voters just aren't buying his act, and these latest attacks won't help him."
The Union Leader, which has endorsed McCain for president, wrote in its editorial: "In this primary, the more Mitt Romney speaks, the less believable he becomes. That is why Granite Staters who have listened attentively are now returning to John McCain."
Romney struck an upbeat tone in his three stops yesterday - greeting skiers and snowboarders near Pats Peak, chatting with customers at Robie's Country Store in Hooksett, and answering questions at an "Ask Mitt Anything" event in Merrimack. Today, he plans to make five stops in New Hampshire before returning to Iowa until the Jan. 3 caucuses.
Polls suggest Romney is in a statistical tie with McCain in New Hampshire and trailing Huckabee in Iowa. Huckabee is focusing on Iowa, and McCain's campaign announced last night that he will be on a bus tour across New Hampshire tomorrow through Wednesday.
"The other candidates have said, 'Well, I can only compete in one state,' but if you want to win the presidency of '08, we've got to win in both states," Romney said. "You can't have a nominee who says, 'I'm writing off Iowa or New Hampshire.' You've got to have a nominee who cares about the election process in both states. I'm fighting to win in both states because I not only want to win the nomination, but I want to win the general election."
John Edwards, the only Democratic presidential candidate campaigning in New Hampshire yesterday, said he wanted Granite State voters to know that he is taking the state seriously.
Edwards, who returns today to Iowa for a bus tour until the caucus, went door to door at a dozen homes in Nashua, attended town hall-style meetings in Conway and Laconia, and gave pep talks to volunteers in Manchester and Salem.
"We have a very strong organization and a very strong campaign here," Edwards said. "I think the New Hampshire primary is very important."
He also launched a TV ad in New Hampshire in which he pledges to use the power of the presidency to restore America's moral authority abroad, take on powerful interests at home, give voice to the powerless, and restore the American Dream.
Aides to Edwards say they learned two lessons from 2004. First, no campaign can overemphasize the importance of Iowa. Second, without a strong organization in New Hampshire, any momentum gained in Iowa will be lost, as was the case for him in 2004.
Globe correspondent James W. Pindell contributed to this report.
