Romney, Giuliani battle over taxes and spending

Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, elbowing for the lead in the New Hampshire primary polls, went at it today on taxes and spending -- a key issue in the famously frugal Granite State.

As witnessed by James Pindell, who writes the Globe's Primary Source blog, Romney called out Giuliani for opposing a line-item presidential veto and supporting a commuter tax while mayor of New York.

Giuliani's campaign quickly organized a conference call with former Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci to question Romney's tax-and-spending record as Bay State governor.

Then, in quick succession, the campaigns sent out competing press releases full of links to newspaper articles and academic studies to show that their candidate was the real fiscal conservative.

Look for a possible reprise Friday in Washington, D.C., where Romney and Giuliani are among the Republican hopefuls scheduled to speak to "Americans for Prosperity," a group that advocates lower spending.