Candidates Launch Final Efforts to Woo NH Voters

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former front-runner Hillary Clinton sought to slow Barack Obama's political momentum ahead of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary while the Republican front-runners sparred at a Sunday night forum over who can best change the way Washington works.

An Obama win in the Democratic primary would solidify his front-runner status in the wake of his convincing victory in Iowa's caucus last week.

At a raucous rally in a Nashua high school gym Sunday, Clinton repeatedly skewered Obama without mentioning him by name. "You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose," Clinton said, alluding to Obama's lyrical style of speaking and writing.

At a packed theater in Manchester, the freshman Illinois senator returned the rhetorical fire, saying, "The real gamble in this election is to do the same things with the same folks, playing the same games over and over and over again and somehow expect a different result."

On the GOP side, the front-runners argued over their records in government and leadership abilities.

Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, touted his record in the private sector and government during a televised candidates' forum.

"I've been in the economy. I've been in the real world," Romney said.

Arizona Sen. John McCain replied: "I also have had experience in leadership, not in management. I led the largest squadron in the United States Navy, not for profit but for patriotism."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the winner in Iowa last week, also tangled with Romney.

"You raised taxes by a half a billion dollars. Is that right?" Romney asked Huckabee, who tried to question Romney about his tax-hike record as Massachusetts governor.

"You know Mike, you make up facts faster than you talk, and that's saying something," Romney added, moments later getting Huckabee to acknowledge tax hikes approved during his 10 years as governor.

"We raised jobs, we built our roads," he said, focusing on what the tax money bought.

"You know," Romney said, "that's political speak."

Moments later, Huckabee said "by a court order we had to improve education. Maybe you don't have to obey the court in Massachusetts. I did in Arkansas. And you know something? Education is a good thing for kids."

Romney also lashed out at Democratic candidates who portray corporations as evil.

"It really is offensive, I think, when I watch our Democrats, or anybody else for that matter, attacking corporations that are creating jobs," he said.

Obama picked up an important endorsement Sunday in a state notorious for independent-minded voters – that of former Sen. Bill Bradley, a favorite of independents in his bid for the presidency eight years ago.

Bradley, who had a Hall of Fame career in basketball before entering politics, announced his backing of Obama as the presidential candidates in both parties sandwiched a day of campaigning between morning appearances on TV talk shows and televised evening forums featuring several of them.

"Barack Obama is building a broad new coalition that brings together Democrats, independents and Republicans by once again making idealism a central focus of our politics," Bradley said in a statement released by the Obama campaign.

Bradley, who challenged then-Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000, is expected to spend Monday appearing with Obama on the final full day of campaigning before New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who finished second in Iowa but is running third in polls in New Hampshire, launched a 36-hour bus tour of New Hampshire at noon Sunday, the same tactic he used in the final day before the Iowa caucus.

Kicking off the tour, Edwards told reporters that Clinton represents "the status quo" in Washington and insisted that he has more passion for change than Obama. "He just believes you can negotiate with people," Edwards said.

Among the Republicans, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani picked up the endorsement of the New England Police Benevolent Association at a Nashua news conference during which he declined to pinpoint his expectations for Tuesday.

"Very best I can do," he said when asked what would be an encouraging finish for him.

Romney on Sunday had to admit he erred when he said at a Saturday night debate that he never ran an ad that said McCain favors amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"I was incorrect," he said when shown his ad on ABC's "This Week."

Romney said he had never seen the ad.

McCain, the leader in most polls here, knows he needs a win but doesn't want to say it.

"We will win," he said when asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if he has to win to stay viable.

Also Sunday, McCain announced endorsements from nearly 100 Reagan administration officials.

On CNN's "Late Edition," Huckabee, the winner in Iowa but lagging in the New Hampshire polls, said he sees "real momentum."

"Don't know where we are going to end up, but I think we are going to end up better than a lot of people ever thought we would, especially if they had looked back a month ago and had written me off as not able to compete in New Hampshire," he said.

On CNN, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson conceded that he has little chance of winning New Hampshire and said he was working toward a strong showing in South Carolina.

"Everybody said that Rudy was inevitable. Then Mitt was inevitable. Now they are on to McCain, you know. Everybody said I would come in fourth in Iowa. I didn't. I came in third," Thompson said. "So steadily, despite the expertise in the news media, we're getting to be exactly where we wanted to be at this point. And I'm very optimistic about South Carolina."