Mitt Romney camp rips Rick Santorum on spending

Story by CNN

GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney's campaign stepped up its criticism of conservative challenger Rick Santorum on Friday, continuing to hit the former Pennsylvania senator on his spending record while in Congress.

For his part, Santorum was slated to hold three "Faith, Family and Freedom" town hall meetings in New Hampshire, now four days from its first-in-the-nation primary.

In addition, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul had events scheduled in the state.

Romney holds a large lead in New Hampshire in most polls, which has resulted in high expectations for his performance next Tuesday. The other candidates appear to be scrambling for a second-place finish that could provide them with momentum heading into the January 21 South Carolina primary.

Catching Romney in South Carolina, however, may prove to be a slog for his Republican rivals. A CNN/Time/ORC International poll released Friday shows 37% of likely GOP Palmetto State primary voters backing the former Massachusetts governor, compared with 19% for Santorum, 18% for Gingrich, and 12% for Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

The survey's sampling error is plus-or-minus 4.5 points.