If a Republican voter had switched off his television and stopped reading newspapers last spring and then picked this week to tune back in to the raging presidential primary battle, the biggest surprise would probably be how little things had changed.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain are in a dead heat for the lead in the newest New Hampshire polls. Romney is pounding on immigration and taxes to set himself apart from McCain. In response, McCain is questioning Romney's authenticity and consistency.

In stops in New Hampshire this week, Romney trained his fire almost exclusively on McCain. Over the weekend, Romney accused McCain of failing "Reagan 101" on taxes and of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"Clearly we want to welcome people into our country legally, but we don't want to say to 12 million people who get to come here illegally that they get to all stay," Romney said at a campaign stop yesterday. "That's simply not fair, that's not the right course, and that's why I oppose amnesty, in any form."

To bolster the case against McCain, Romney's campaign released a memo containing old quotes from McCain about how "amnesty has to be an important part" of an immigration bill. McCain was one of the Republican backers of a compromise bill on immigration that included a path to citizenship for undocumented migrants in the country. The bill failed to pass Congress last spring, and GOP backlash against it contributed to McCain's slide in the polls.

But McCain's campaign hit back, saying that Romney had in 2006 expressed support for the key principles of the immigration bill. "I know something about tailspins, and it's pretty clear Mitt Romney is in one," said a statement from McCain, who is returning to the state today. "It's disappointing that he would launch desperate, flailing and false attacks in an attempt to maintain relevance."

A few things have happened in the past six months: Romney took the lead in polls from a floundering McCain last spring and has consistently held it. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has remained in the double digits, although he's lost a few points. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has also emerged as a contender, although his evangelical credentials have gotten him farther in Iowa, where he now leads polls.

McCain and Romney are also the candidates who need New Hampshire most. Romney has consistently touted his early state strategy. This month, he lost the lead in Iowa to Huckabee. New Hampshire remains a sweet spot for McCain: It was the state that delivered him an unlikely primary victory in 2000.

Wayne Lesperance, an associate professor of political science at New England College, said he thinks some Republicans are returning to their former favorite.

"There's a whole lot of folks that really early on liked John McCain. And then they went shopping: 'Let me take a look at Romney. Let me take a look at Rudy,' " Lesperance said.

When he went to a recent McCain event in Hillsboro, Lesperance talked to a lot of voters who told the same story. "They said, 'You know, I always liked John McCain. He's always been my favorite second choice,' " he said.

Romney, campaigning in New Hampshire yesterday, also took a lighter touch on this trip, his final to New Hampshire before the Iowa caucuses.

At his final stop of the trip, at a senior housing development in Bedford, Romney spent more time shaking hands than he did delivering remarks or taking questions. When he did, he ran through some of the challenges facing the nation - terrorism, competition from abroad - while sounding a note of optimism.

"No one votes for yesterday. They vote for tomorrow," he said. "Elections are about the future."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Single page