McCain and Romney clash over taxes and spending

Manchester, New Hampshire: Mitt Romney and John McCain sparred in the Republicans' second debate in New Hampshire, where they are in a close race in the state's first-in-the-nation primary election today. Among Democrats, Barack Obama opened a lead against his rivals in the latest polls.

McCain and Romney disputed their tax and spending records and who was a better agent for change, as the Republicans kicked off a second debate on Sunday night in a studio on the campus of St Anselm College.

"You have a choice," Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, said after ticking off his accomplishments in office. "You can select somebody who wants to fight for those things, or you can select somebody who's actually done those things."

Exposed

McCain, a senator from Arizona, listed the wasteful spending he has exposed, as well as an Air Force tanker contract he squashed. "I think it was a reason why I wasn't elected Miss Congeniality in the Senate," McCain said. "I have a record of saving billions of dollars."

'Doer, not talker'

Among Democrats, a new USA Today-Gallup poll showed Obama opening up a lead at 41 per cent, with Hillary Rodham Clinton at 28 per cent, and John Edwards at 19 per cent. The New Hampshire poll was taken Friday through Sunday.

In campaigning on Sunday, Hillary told voters they should elect "a doer, not a talker," while Obama countered that his rivals are stuck in the politics of the past.