DES MOINES, Iowa — Mike Huckabee says John McCain is a hero. McCain says Huckabee is a good man. And they seem to agree on this: Mitt Romney is neither.
The Republican rivals joined Sunday to criticize Romney — McCain in New Hampshire called him a waffler, and Huckabee in Iowa questioned whether he can be trusted with the presidency, a sign of Romney’s strength in both states.
Romney’s camp accused the hard-charging Huckabee of “testiness and irritability,” a reflection of the brass-knuckles phase of the most open presidential race in half a century.
Much is at stake: Iowa kicks off the election process Thursday with Democratic and Republican caucuses that could propel two candidates to their parties’ nominations.
“Whoever wins Iowa could be the next president of the United States,” said Democratic consultant Stephanie Cutter, adding that a compressed election schedule may put a premium on momentum this year, “and Iowa can be a rocket-booster.”
New Hampshire votes five days after Iowa.
The dynamics aren’t quite the same on the Republican side, but GOP consultant Scott Reed said Iowa “is going to make or break three-quarters of all the candidates.”
Polls show Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards tied for the lead in Iowa. Clinton and Obama are closely bunched in New Hampshire, too, where voters are often influenced by the results in Iowa.
The Democratic winner here will be hard to stop, especially if it’s a well-funded Clinton or Obama.
As six candidates offered their closing messages on the morning talk shows, Obama acknowledged that the criticism about his lack of experience in Washington might be taking a toll.
“That may have some effect, but ultimately I’m putting my faith in the people of Iowa and the people of America that they want something better,” Obama told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Playing the experience card, Clinton told ABC’s “This Week” that as first lady from 1993 to 2001 she was “intimately involved in so much that went on in the White House, here at home and around the world.”
In an interview with The Associated Press, Edwards said he was trying to ease fears about his electability by arguing that his sharply populist message is not polarizing.
A new poll of the Republican race in Iowa suggested that Huckabee’s surprise surge in Iowa may have stalled — his lead over Romney evaporated. A victory here for Romney would send the former Massachusetts governor to his neighboring New Hampshire with a head of steam.
That explains why Huckabee, strongest in Iowa, and McCain, winner of the 2000 GOP primary in New Hampshire, criticized Romney.
Huckabee said he may have been hurt by Romney ads and mailings criticizing his record as governor of Arkansas. He accused Romney of running a “very desperate and, frankly, a dishonest campaign.”
