Looking beyond an expected win in New Hampshire,Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romneyreached out to South Carolina voters Friday with atwo-track argument that President Barack Obama hasmishandled the economy and devised an"inexcusable, unthinkable" plan to shrink the U.S.military. His GOP rivals kept up an anti-Romneydrumbeat in New Hampshire, hoping to chip away athis support and slow his momentum.
Looking beyond an expected win in New Hampshire,Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romneyreached out to South Carolina voters Friday with atwo-track argument that President Barack Obama hasmishandled the economy and devised an"inexcusable, unthinkable" plan to shrink the U.S.military. His GOP rivals kept up an anti-Romneydrumbeat in New Hampshire, hoping to chip away athis support and slow his momentum.
The Republicans' 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. JohnMcCain, teamed up with Romney in South Carolinaand invested huge importance in the state'sverdict.
"If Mitt Romney wins here, he will be the nextpresident of the United States," McCain told thecrowd at a century-old peanut warehouse nearMyrtle Beach, where the two campaigned with SouthCarolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
A new poll showed Romney gaining significantground in the state. The TIME/CNN/ORC poll hadRomney leading with 37 percent support, a 17-pointgain since early December. Former PennsylvaniaSen. Rick Santorum was at 19 percent, a 15-pointsurge, and was nearly tied with former HouseSpeaker Newt Gingrich, who had plummeted from 43percent support in early December.
Romney kept up his criticism of Obama as a jobskiller but didn't get much message reinforcementfrom the government on Friday: The LaborDepartment reported that employers added a net200,000 jobs last month and that the unemploymentrate fell to 8.5 percent, the fourth straightmonthly drop.
Romney said the report contains some good news,but that America still "deserves better."''Thirty-five consecutive months of unemploymentabove 8 percent is no cause for celebration," hesaid in a written statement.
Santorum, campaigning in New Hampshire, said theuptick had come "despite the president's jobspolicy," and he managed to claim credit forRepublicans. Santorum suggested the boost was tiedto voters' optimism that a Republican would winthe White House.
Gingrich, for his part, dismissed the job gains asinadequate, saying there are still 1.7 millionfewer Americans going to work than when Obama waselected.
"I think the president's program is slowing downthe recovery, rather than accelerating it," hesaid.
Obama savored the positive economic news, callingit "real progress." And he took care of somecampaign business by going out to lunch with fourAmericans who won a contest that lets small-dollardonors nosh with the president.
Romney's GOP rivals are working overtime to casthim as too timid and too moderate: They're urgingRepublicans to do themselves a favor and nominatea more conservative standard-bearer offering asharper contrast to Obama.
"The only way Republicans lose is if we screw thisup and nominate another moderate who has takenmultiple positions on every major issue of ourtime," Santorum told supporters in a fundraisingappeal Friday.
Gingrich argued on morning TV news shows thatRomney can't win the nomination and said that evenif he did, his performance against Obama in thegeneral election campaign debates would simplydraw a laugh from the president.
The former House speaker, speaking on ABC's "GoodMorning America," predicted that Romney would winNew Hampshire but that one of the formerMassachusetts governor's GOP rivals "willeventually emerge as the conservative alternativeand will beat Romney."
Romney is heavily favored to win Tuesday's NewHampshire primary, so much so that he can affordto focus on South Carolina, where voters aren'tdue to cast primary ballots for another two weeks.While the new poll put Romney out front in SouthCarolina, 49 percent of respondents said theystill might change their minds. The survey had amargin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
McCain told voters there that Romney couldeffectively clinch the GOP nomination with a SouthCarolina win on Jan. 21.
"It's going to come down, as it always does, toSouth Carolina," he said.
The Arizona senator hammered at Gingrich andSantorum for backing government spending onlegislators' special projects, known as"earmarks," when they were in Congress, tellingvoters, "My friends, earmarks are the gateway tocorruption."
Santorum, who faced tough questioning from votersthroughout the day about his policies, counteredthat it "just absurd" to characterize him as anirresponsible spender just because he supportedearmarks.
"This is John McCain trying to put his imprimaturon the Republican, conservative movement,"Santorum said, adding that McCain had failed tolead on overhauling Social Security, Medicare andother government programs.
Romney kept his focus on Obama, telling hisaudience in Conway that the president's proposalto reduce the military and focus more on Asia was"inexcusable, unthinkable and it must bereversed."
His allies were fully engaged in the tussle overwhich GOP candidate is the true conservative.Romney showcased the endorsement of conservativeleader Bay Buchanan, whose brother Pat won the NewHampshire primary in 1996. Bay Buchanan castRomney as a "real conservative" who could getthings done.
Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC thatunloaded a barrage of negative TV ads on Gingrichin Iowa, planned to go after him again -- thistimein print. The group announced it had purchasedfull-page newspaper ads in New Hampshire and SouthCarolina tying the former House speaker to Obama.
"On issue after issue, Newt Gingrich and BarackObama have so much in common, the right choice isto choose neither," the ad said, ticking throughissues including Gingrich's support for thefederal bank bailout and favoring "amnesty" forillegal immigrants.
Jon Huntsman, who bypassed Iowa to bet hiscampaign on a good finish in New Hampshire, wasshowing off an endorsement by The Boston Globe,Romney's hometown paper. It was the second timeMassachusetts' largest newspaper had snubbedRomney ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
Campaigning in Concord, N.H, Huntsman was asked byan audience member whether the other candidateshave "clawed their way to the right," leaving himas the centrist in the race. Huntsman didn'taccept the label but called himself a realistinstead.
"We have to draw from ideas that are doable andnot so outlandishly stupid that they create a lotof political infighting and finger-pointing andnever, ever in 1000 years are going to get done,"he said.
Also vying to emerge as Romney's chief rival wereTexas Rep. Ron Paul and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Perry, who finished fifth in Iowa, released abiographical ad in South Carolina that spokesmanRay Sullivan said shows his "perfect-for-South-Carolina status" as a conservative man of faithand a veteran.
Paul, who placed third in Iowa, was arriving inNew Hampshire on Friday, in time to participate ina pair of weekend debates.
