Romney, McCain Battle for Right

Sen. John McCain, right, greets New England Patriots fans at the Green Dragon Tavern, a historic pub in Boston. McCain said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that he is "far more conservative" than Romney. (By Mario Tama -- Getty Images)

Speaking before a huge banner that declared "Washington Is Broken," a jacketless Romney told an enthusiastic crowd tightly packed into an arts center of the College of DuPage outside Chicago that the nomination had become a "battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party." He asked the crowd, "Which way are we going to go? Are we going to take a sharp left turn in our party, to get as close as we can to Hillary Clinton?"

Few in the crowd of several hundred appeared to be undecided, seeming instead to believe in Romney's message that he is a true conservative. "I'm tired of reaching across the aisle when no one is reaching back," said Jim Strnad, a 63-year-old owner of a computer store.

Romney brushed off results of new polls showing him falling behind McCain, pointing to his victory Saturday in the Maine caucuses, and professed himself unconcerned about McCain's decision to spend the day campaigning in Massachusetts and Connecticut. "If he wants to go to Massachusetts, that's fine," Romney said. "I don't think it will help him a lot."

Indeed, McCain's delayed appearance at a Boston bar yesterday threatened to be ignored by patrons anxious to watch the New England Patriots play in the Super Bowl.

McCain arrived more than an hour late and spent only four minutes making the rounds of the Green Dragon Tavern. He briefly thanked former Massachusetts governor Paul Cellucci for his endorsement and noted, "I know we're getting close to the time of the kickoff. . . . Thanks again," then left, just 37 minutes before the game began.

Kessler is traveling with the Romney campaign. Staff writer Juliet Eilperin, traveling with the McCain campaign, contributed to this report from Boston.