Clinton and Obama claim to be true candidates of change

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton clashed today ahead of Tuesday’s critical New Hampshire primary.

The Democratic party front-runners deriding each others’ claims to be the true candidate of change.

Mrs Clinton told Democratic voters they should elect “a doer, not a talker” while Mr Obama countered that his critics are stuck in the politics of the past.

On the Republican side, Mitt Romney was attacked during and after a TV debate last night. Mr Romney’s rivals want to cripple his campaign with back-to-back losses in Iowa and New Hampshire that would hamper the wealthy former Massachusetts governor in states later in the election process.

At a raucous rally today in a school gymnasium in Nashua, Mrs Clinton attacked Mr Obama for several votes he has cast in the Senate, such as his vote in favour of a renewal of the Patriot Act, a package of anti-terrorism measures that critics say infringe civil liberties, and for energy legislation she described as “Dick Cheney’s energy bill.”

She never mentioned Mr Obama’s name but left no doubt about whom she was discussing.

“You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose,” Mrs Clinton said.

Mr Obama, speaking at a packed Manchester theatre, took issue with Mrs Clinton’s criticism of him during last night’s Democratic presidential debate.

“One of my opponents said we can’t just, you know, offer the American people false hopes about what we can get done,” he said.

“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,” he said. “That is a gamble we cannot afford, that is a risk we cannot take. Not this time. Not now. It is time to turn the page.”

Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary could be pivotal for the Democrats. Mr Obama, the Illinois senator, is hoping to sustain momentum from his caucus victory in Iowa, and Mrs Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, is looking to recover from her stinging third place finish.

A CNN/WMUR poll released yesterday found Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama tied at 33% each in the state, with former North Carolina Senator John Edwards trailing at 20%.

Mr Edwards, who barely beat Mrs Clinton for second place in Iowa, was joined today by three families who suffered medical tragedies as he made an emotional case against insurance companies. Picking up on a theme from the debates, he told reporters that he and Mr Obama offer real change to voters while Mrs Clinton represents “the status quo.”

He also argued he has more passion for change and would be more willing than Mr Obama to fight for his goals.

“He just believes you can negotiate with people,” Mr Edwards said of his rival.

Today, Mr McCain and Mr Romney continued their back and forth sparring from last night’s Republican debate.

“My friend, you can spend your whole fortune on these attack ads, but it still won’t be true,” Mr McCain told his chief competitor last night, taking issue with Romney’s characterisation of the Arizona senator’s immigration plan as amnesty.

“I don’t describe your plan as amnesty in my ad, I don’t call it amnesty,” Mr Romney shot back – even though two of his TV commercials use the term, including one that says Mr McCain “wrote the amnesty bill that America rejected.”

Today, Mr Romney acknowledged: “I was simply incorrect.”

The immigration skirmish was just one of several in which Mr Romney was on the defensive.

Mike Huckabee acknowledged “a brotherhood” of sorts with Mr McCain, fuelled by Romney’s criticism. “We have both been brutally assaulted by Governor Romney with amazingly misleading ads that attacked and distorted and misrepresented our records,” Huckabee said on Fox News today.

Mr Romney’s aggressive demeanour over the past few days and his rivals’ willingness to openly assail him reflect the stakes in the wide-open race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Mr Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, defeated Mr Romney in the Iowa caucuses on Thursday with an underfunded campaign.

Now Mr Romney faces a strong challenge from a resurgent Mr McCain in New Hampshire’s primary. Michigan, where Mr Romney was brought up and is competing strongly, votes a week later.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Texas Representative Ron Paul also participated in the 90-minute TV debate on Saturday.

Mr Romney walked on-stage for the debate fresh from a victory earlier in the day in the scarcely contested Wyoming caucuses. Seeking to become the first Mormon president, he said the outcome was “just the beginning.”

Two new polls in New Hampshire suggested Mr McCain’s momentum had carried him into a narrow lead over Mr Romney, with Mr Huckabee and Mr Giuliani trailing. The surveys also suggested Mr Huckabee had not yet profited from his victory in Iowa.

Mr Obama, who is bidding to become the first black president, sounded an upbeat tone throughout his campaign stops today, telling New Hampshire crowds their votes could propel him to the Democratic nomination.

“You will have the chance to change America in two days time,” he said. “In two days we can do what the cynics said could not be done. We will have the chance to come together, Democrats, Republicans, independents and announce that we are one nation, we are one people and it is time for change in America. This is our moment, this is our time.”

Mrs Clinton was clearly elated to be greeted by a large, enthusiastic audience of her own in the same Nashua school that Mr Obama filled the day before. Both candidates had to use a second gym for the overflow crowd.

Earlier, she and daughter Chelsea braved slushy pavements to go door to door in Manchester for about an hour seeking votes.

After leaving one house, Mrs Clinton was asked by a TV reporter how she felt about the Democratic debate the night before.

“Really good,” the senator said. “We’re starting to draw a contrast for New Hampshire voters between talkers and doers.”

Husband Bill was campaigning in North Conway, New Hampshire, sticking to the key word “change.”

“There’s a different between talk and action. It makes a big difference if you’ve actually changed people’s lives, if it’s the work of your life,” the former president said.