FRANKLIN, N.H. — Mitt Romney and Senator McCain sought to enhance their stature in a field of Republican presidential contenders that Newt Gingrich derisively called “pygmies,” criticizing their Democratic rivals as too liberal and ill-prepared for the nation’s top job.

Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, singled out the Democratic front-runner, Senator Clinton, telling a group of senior citizens in central New Hampshire, “I don’t think Hillary Clinton could get elected president of France with her platform. France is moving toward us.”

Mr. Romney did not spare others, though, saying, “I’m convinced that America is going to change course, and the question is which way it is going to go: Are we going to take a sharp left turn represented by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and John Edwards, or are we going to march forth with the American values that have always helped us be the strongest nation on Earth?”

Mr. McCain took exception to remarks in which Senator Obama asserted his foreign-policy judgment was superior to any of the candidates in the race, Republican or Democrat, partly because he has lived overseas and had a multicultural upbringing.

“Well, I also think I’m the most qualified to run the decathlon because I watch sports on television all the time,” Arizona senator said. “I think that Senator Obama showed a degree of naïveté when he advocated direct talks with the leader of North Korea and the president to Iran.”