Mitt Romney
suggested last week that he and his fellow Republican
presidential contenders would avoid the ''rancor'' that
flared up recently between Democrats after one of
Barack Obama's fund-raisers questioned Hillary Rodham
Clinton's honesty. This week, however, with polls
showing him running third, the former Massachusetts governor
took sharper aim at his leading rivals, Sen. John
McCain of Arizona and former New York mayor Rudy
Giuliani.
Romney told New
Hampshire voters on Thursday that McCain was
devising an immigration policy that was the ''wrong course''
for the nation. And Giuliani's positions on abortion,
same-sex marriage, and gun control were a losing
combination in the GOP primary, he told a television
audience replete with Christian conservatives.
The criticism set
the tone for a series of speeches Friday before the
Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, an
annual convention of conservative activists dating to
1973.
Besides Romney
and Giuliani, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was
to speak. McCain planned to spend Friday fund-raising in
Utah.
Romney typed away
on a laptop Thursday, fine-tuning his remarks between
four campaign stops in New Hampshire. He also attended an
editorial board meeting with the New HampshireUnion Leader, whose editorial page is closely
read by conservatives.
''I don't intend
to be characterizing other people other than to point
out places where we're different, and we are different on
certain measures,'' Romney said before his final
campaign stop Thursday, a dinner speech to GOP
activists from Derry, Hampton, and Portsmouth.
''I don't think
there's anything wrong pointing out where we're
different, because some people will agree with me and some
will agree with somebody else,'' he added. ''And on
some issues, someone else will be more conservative
than I am, but that just depends on the issue, and I'm
by no means the most conservative on all issues.''
Last week, during
another swing through New Hampshire, Romney delighted
in the Democratic infighting and cast the Republican field
as a far more harmonious lot.
''I'm sure we'll
disagree on issues from time to time, but I doubt you'll
see the rancor that apparently may exist elsewhere,'' he
said February 23 during a stop in Merrimack.
Romney
highlighted one of those policy disagreements during his
first appearance Thursday, targeting McCain and his
proposal to offer different classifications of illegal
immigrants varying pathways to legal residency.
''I don't agree
with it. I think it's the wrong course,'' Romney said.
''I do not believe amnesty is the right course for the 11 or
12 million illegal immigrants who are living here. It
didn't work in the 1980s. It's not going to work in
the 2000s either.''
McCain, who
announced Wednesday night that he will formally become a
candidate next month, has pushed such legislation.
Romney said he
favors securing the U.S.-Mexico border with a fence and
wants to institute an employment verification system through
high-tech identification cards.
In Utah for a
fund-raiser, McCain responded to Romney's criticisms by
saying he believes that a comprehensive approach to
immigration is needed. ''So does the president of the
United States. None of us support amnesty, and we need
to secure our borders,'' the senator said.
McCain spokesman
Matt David cited a Romney comment last year in which
Romney said he doesn't believe in rounding up 11 million
people and forcing them at gunpoint from the country.
Meanwhile, in an
interview posted on the Christian Broadcasting Network
Web site, Romney criticized McCain for opposing a
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
McCain replied,
''I believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and
a woman, but I believe the states should decide.''
Romney also
criticized Giuliani during his CBN interview.
''He is
pro-choice, he is pro-gay marriage, and antigun,''
Romney said. ''That's a tough combination in a
Republican primary.''
Giuliani
spokeswoman Katie Levinson replied: ''Mayor Giuliani has the
utmost respect for Governor Romney. The mayor's position on
gay marriage has been both clear and
consistent--he does not support gay marriage and
believes marriage should be between a man a woman.''
Romney's own past
positions have drawn scrutiny. In previous campaigns,
Romney has said abortion should be safe and legal. He now
describes himself as ''pro-life.'' In 1994, running
for the U.S. Senate, he promised a gay Republican
group he would be a stronger advocate for gays than
his liberal opponent, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Meanwhile, in a
sign of what die-hard Republicans may think of the field
of presidential contenders, Giuliani was leading 10 other
candidates Thursday in a straw poll in conservative
Spartanburg County, S.C.
With 81 of 92
precincts reporting, Giuliani had garnered 158 votes.
California representative Duncan Hunter was a close second
with 152 votes, while McCain was third with 116,
county GOP officials said.
Kansas senator
Sam Brownback had 83 votes, Romney had 80, and Huckabee
21. A final vote count was expected Friday. (Glen Johnson,
AP)
