Romney facing challenges in presidential bid

WASHINGTON - In a topsy-turvy Republican race for the 2008 presidential nomination, conservative favourite Mitt Romney suddenly found himself under threat in the key states of Iowa and New Hampshire on Monday, less than two weeks before voting begins.

Shifting opinion poll numbers showed former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee within 1 percentage point of Romney in Iowa and Arizona Senator John McCain within 3 percentage points of Romney in New Hampshire.

The changing fortunes provoked a slew of headlines focusing on difficulties for Romney, 60, and coincided with an editorial in a leading New Hampshire newspaper, The Concord Monitor, rejecting his candidacy and accusing the former Massachusetts governor of flip-flopping on the issues.

Build a candidate from a kit and you would get Romney, the editorial said, with his athletic build, charismatic speaking style and handsome looks.

But the result, it said, is "a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped."

"When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state's first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phoney, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we'll know it," the Monitor said. "Mitt Romney is such a candidate."

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden played down the significance of newspaper endorsements and attacks, saying they were "not as important as the endorsement of the individual Republican voter."

He said the campaign had always known the race would narrow as the contests drew closer and that Romney's organizational efforts to boost voter turnout would make the difference. He also took a swipe at Huckabee, 51, and McCain, 71.

"Governor Romney has very strong positions on enforcing immigration laws and lowering taxes. Mike Huckabee has a very weak and troubling record on both of those issues," Madden said. McCain has a "pro-amnesty approach on immigration" and voted against tax relief that spurred the economy, he said.

Romney, also a former chief executive of the management consulting firm Bain & Company, has already been facing scrutiny and questions over his Mormon faith.

His latest troubles came as campaigning wrapped up for the Christmas holiday and less than two weeks before January 3, when voters in Iowa begin the state-by-state contests to choose Republican and Democratic nominees for the November 2008 presidential election.

New Hampshire voters go to the polls in a primary election five days later, on January 8.

HUCKABEE SURGE

The turn of events - especially the surge in popularity among conservative Christian voters by Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist preacher - threatened to upend Romney's strategy for winning the Republican nomination.

Romney always trailed Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani, a 63-year-old former New York mayor, in national opinion polls.

Romney's strategy for mounting a challenge rested on winning the conservative early voting states, where support for the more centrist Giuliani was weak, in hopes of building momentum and support nationwide.

Until the past month, that strategy had paid off and Romney was seen as the favourite in Iowa and New Hampshire, especially among conservative Christians. But Huckabee has gained increasing support with his folksy populism and quick wit.

A Reuters/Zogby poll showed Huckabee within 1 percentage point of Romney in Iowa last week, a result echoed by other surveys. A Boston Globe poll released on Sunday found McCain within 3 percentage points of Romney in New Hampshire.