Mitt Romney Brings in Chris Christie for Final Push in Iowa

U.S. White House hopeful Mitt Romney brought in help from New Jersey on Friday to bolster his prospects for a win in Iowa next week that would put him in the lead in the Republican presidential race.

Romney campaigned alongside tough-talking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in a final frenzy of candidate appearances before Iowa launches the state-by-state contests to choose the Republican nominee who will face Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.

Buoyed by an NBC/Marist poll that showed him leading the field ahead of Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, Romney was upbeat about his chances in the Midwestern state that jilted him for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008.

This feels wonderful, Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told Reuters as he worked a ropeline of supporters outside a grocery store in West Des Moines. I tell you, the crowds and the enthusiasm couldn't be more wonderful.

The outcome of the caucuses is by no means certain, and polls have been volatile as Iowans deliberate over who to choose and the candidates jockey for position in the final days.

The NBC/Marist poll of likely caucus participants put Romney on top at 23 percent, just ahead of the 21 percent for libertarian U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

Rick Santorum, a social conservative and former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, has seen his prospects improve as influential evangelicals flock to his side. Santorum jumped to third place at 15 percent in the NBC/Marist poll, followed closely by Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 14 percent.

The top three or four finishers in Iowa on Tuesday will have momentum heading to New Hampshire on Jan. 10, while the rest will have to make tough decisions about whether to continue.

Powerful Surrogate

Romney brought a powerful surrogate to Iowa in Christie, who is popular with conservatives and might shore up Romney's right wing.

Christie, who has gained a following among Republicans for taking on New Jersey's political establishment, urged a crowd of about 1,000 people to take nothing for granted and get out to the caucuses to vote for Romney.

Christie praised Romney as the best hopes of defeating Obama, who he said has not made good on his 2008 pledge to bring hope and change to America.

Let me tell you, after three years of Obama, we are hopeless and changeless, and we need Mitt Romney to bring us back, he said.

Christie told reporters he would not rule out joining Romney as his vice presidential running mate if Romney becomes the Republican nominee.

Erstwhile Iowa front-runner Newt Gingrich sank to 13 percent in the NBC/Marist poll. The former House of Representatives speaker, buffeted by negative ads and attacks for weeks, got choked up talking about his mother during a campaign appearance.

Gingrich wiped tears from his eyes in a display of emotion that was reminiscent of Hillary Clinton's teary moment on the Democratic campaign trail in 2008.

At an event aimed at moms, Gingrich lost his composure repeatedly when asked about his own mother, who suffered from depression and bipolar disorder before she died.

I do policy much easier than I do personal, Gingrich said by way of recovery, to laughter from the crowd.

The candidates took shots at each other and argued they have the conservative policy ideas to help the United States trigger job growth.

I will send a signal to our country's job creators and to the world that the days of socialist policies are over, that our free market is once again open for business, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota told supporters in Urbandale.

Romney has shied away from going all-out in Iowa, but is hoping the anti-Romney vote is splintered sufficiently among his rivals to allow him to score a victory and give him an aura of inevitability before heading to what is essentially home turf for him in New Hampshire.

Some in the crowd at his event with Christie came for the opportunity to hear the New Jersey governor, not Romney.

I don't want Chris Christie necessarily to run for vice president with Romney, although that would be OK, but he needs to be president, I think, Chris Christie, said John Brown of West Des Moines.

Romney, a multimillionaire who plays down his wealth by talking about the poor conditions his father experienced, accused Obama of elitism, criticizing the president's vacation in Hawaii, and likening his stewardship of the U.S. economy to 18th century French Queen Marie Antoinette, who famously declared of the peasants, Let them eat cake.

Romney seized on comments Obama has made that the U.S. economy would be even weaker if stimulus measures he pushed through Congress had not been enacted.

The other day President Obama said it could be worse. Can you imagine hearing that from a pessimistic president? 'It could be worse.' That goes down with Marie Antoinette: 'Let them eat cake,' Romney said.

He just finished his 90th round of golf. We've got 25 million Americans that are out of work or stopped looking for work or underemployed.

The Democratic National Committee said Romney's own personal wealth undermined his message.

It is actually laughable that the Quarter-Billion-Dollar Man would call President Obama out of touch -- and use the example of a French monarch to make the point, said DNC representative Melanie Roussell.

(Editing by John O'Callaghan)