WRAPUP 9-Romney, Clinton are targets at U.S. debates

MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential contenders ganged up on rival Mitt Romney Saturday and Democrat Hillary Clinton drew rebukes in combative back-to-back debates that could shape tight races in New Hampshire's nominating contest.

In sharp exchanges on Iraq, health care and immigration, the top presidential contenders in each party made a desperate last bid to gain an edge three days before the Tuesday primary.

New Hampshire is crucial to efforts by Clinton and Romney to revitalize their campaigns after disappointing showings in Iowa. It is the next battleground in the state-by-state fight to pick candidates for November's election to succeed President Bush.

John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, took aim at Clinton for criticizing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for shifting his positions on health care in recent years and failing to mandate health care coverage for all Americans.

Edwards noted Clinton's third-place finish in Iowa, when Obama captured the first big prize of the presidential campaign and Edwards finished second on a wave of support for their call for change in Washington.

"I didn't hear these kinds of attacks from Senator Clinton when she was ahead," Edwards said. "Every time he speaks out for change, every time I fight for change, the forces of status quo are going to attack -- every single time."

Romney, fighting for his political life, was the target of repeated shots for shifting positions on Iraq war strategy and criticizing his rivals in a series of political ads. Romney finished well behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the Iowa contest.

When Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and wealthy venture capitalist, tried to characterize John McCain's immigration stance, the Arizona senator cut him short.

"You can spend your whole fortune on those attack ads and it still won't be true," said McCain, who is locked in a close race with Romney for the lead in New Hampshire and has been the target of some of the ads.

McCain later told Romney they disagreed on some issues but agreed on one thing. "You are the candidate of change," he said.

BACK-TO-BACK

The Democratic presidential contenders followed the Republicans' debate on Saturday night in New Hampshire as polls showed tight races on both sides.

In between debates, all the contenders from both parties gathered on the stage at Saint Anselm College in Manchester and greeted each other, hugging and shaking hands and appearing to chat amiably.

Obama is battling Clinton, a New York senator, for the lead in New Hampshire after rolling to an Iowa win on a wave of grass-roots enthusiasm for his outsider's message of change in Washington.

Obama, a target of criticism from all the Republicans during the debate, drew some praise from Huckabee. "He has excited a lot of voters in this country, and we ought to respect that," he said.

But Clinton cast doubt on Obama's ability to bring about the change he has touted and took a dig at his rhetorical style.

"Words are not action, and as beautifully presented and passionately felt as they are, they are not action," she said of Obama's calls. "What we've got to do is translate talk into action and feeling into reality. I have a long record of doing that."

Earlier in the day, Romney got a little boost with a win in the Wyoming Republican caucus, capturing most of the 12 votes the state will cast at the Republican presidential nominating convention in September, when the party will choose its nominees.

During the debate, Huckabee accused Romney of initially opposing the increase of troops in Iraq, which is now seen as improving security in the country, and said Romney was taking "cheap shots" at the president.

When Romney asked Huckabee not to mischaracterize his position, Huckabee shot back, "Which one?" (Additional reporting by Jason Szep, Claudia Parsons, Scott Malone, Steve Holland, Ed Stoddard; Writing by John Whitesides; editing by Lori Santos and Philip Barbara)