Weekend polls showed Senator John McCain heading into Tuesday’s Republican contests with a clear lead over his chief rival, Mitt Romney. On the Democratic side, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was slightly ahead of Senator Barack Obama, although poll numbers were close to a draw.

The challengers in both parties came out swinging on Sunday. At a campaign stop in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Obama criticized both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain and tried to link his opponents to the policies of the Bush administration, particularly the war in Iraq, which Mrs. Clinton initially supported.

“I can offer and clean break from the failed policies of George W. Bush,” Mr. Obama said. “I won’t have to explain my votes in the past.”

At a campaign rally outside Chicago, Mr. Romney, who has repeatedly claimed that Mr. McCain is out of step with conservative Republicans, also tried to link the Arizona Republican with Mrs. Clinton.

“There’s a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party,” Mr. Romney said. “Which way are we going to go? Are we going to take a sharp left turn in our party, get as close as we can to Hillary Clinton, without being Hillary Clinton?”

The weekend polls showed Mr. McCain with twice Mr. Romney’s support. And while Mr. McCain had relied on independents to carry him to victory in some early primaries, a new ABC/Washington Post survey showed that his support among self-identified Republicans was up significantly, nearly fourfold since December.

Part of this increased support appeared to come from Republicans rallying around the candidate now deemed most electable. And part of it, said Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and second-tier Republican candidate, was a sense among some Republicans that Mr. Romney is a conservative of convenience, not of conviction.

“When we were out there supporting Ronald Reagan, he was running away from him,” Mr. Huckabee said on CNN. “That’s what rankles many of us. He’s a recent convert and now he shouts ‘hallelujah’ louder than the rest of us.”

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Source; NyTimes.com

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