In Fla., McCain and Romney Argue About Iraq

McCain's emphasis on Iraq also returns the focus of the campaign to foreign policy and the military, issues that the longtime senator and military hero believe play into his strengths. Voters have said they are most concerned about the economy, a strong point for Romney, who made millions as a businessman.

The dislike between the candidates was evident on Friday, when McCain's campaign released an online-only ad featuring Romney's face superimposed on the figure of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) windsurfing -- an ad from the 2004 presidential campaign that caricatured Kerry as an inveterate flip-flopper.

In the ad, titled "Mittsurfing," an announcer asks: "Which way does Mitt Romney stand? Whichever way the wind blows."

On Saturday, McCain and Romney also offered harsh words about each other's r¿sum¿s as former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, trailing in the polls, tried to insert himself into the conversation before Tuesday's vote.

Campaigning across central Florida, Romney questioned McCain's economic policy experience as Romney campaign aides asserted that the senator from Arizona -- who was endorsed for the GOP nomination by the New York Times this week -- has worked against the interests of the Republican Party.

"I spent my time in the economy. . . . I know something about it," Romney said in St. Petersburg, offering a not-so-subtle hint about his rival's lack of experience. His spokesman sent reporters an e-mail titled "Leading the Charge on the Other Side," assailing McCain for doing more to help Democrats than Republicans in the Senate.

That argument was helped by former president Bill Clinton, who said Friday that his wife and McCain are "very close," and added that they "always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history, and they're afraid they'd put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other."

In a one-minute online ad released on Friday, Romney uses clips of political pundits on network news shows to argue that the Republican Party's distrust of McCain runs long and deep.

"Judges, immigration, campaign reform, taxes -- John McCain has consistently, sort of, challenged the Republican Party on some of those stances," NBC's political director, Chuck Todd, says in the ad.

McCain and his aides, angry that Romney has made a point in recent days of questioning the senator's lack of private-sector experience, publicly took the former governor to task for his comments.

During a town hall meeting in North Fort Myers on Saturday, McCain questioned "people who say you haven't had a real job" if you served in the military. "Those of us who have served in the military, we think it's a real job," he said.

McCain added that if elected president, he would appoint managers to work beneath him, rather than seek that role for himself -- a dig at Romney's repeated assertion that his experience as a manager in the business world should qualify him for the presidency.