The leading GOP White House hopefuls are taking a page from the Democrats' playbook, moving right on to New Hampshire after the decisive Iowa caucuses with the aura of mavericks, and agents of change.

The terrain in New Hampshire is starkly different than Iowa's, and features a new set of contestants. While former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee bested Mitt Romney in Iowa with the help of evangelical conservatives, that breed of voter is scarce in New Hampshire. They have an independent, libertarian streak, and to that backdrop candidates are stressing something new -- outsider credentials.

And with freshman Sen. Barack Obama beating Washington staple Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side and underfunded Huckabee beating millionaire Romney, the idea of the being the "change" candidate seems to be appealing to both sides of the partisan aisle.

"The message I got out of Iowa was that people in Iowa said they want change," Romney said Friday in Portsmouth, N.H. "The two Washington insiders -- John McCain and Hillary Clinton -- both lost ... There's no way Senator McCain is going to be able to come to New Hampshire and say he's the candidate that represents change and he'll change Washington. He is Washington."

Huckabee predicted he'd start to get more contributions going into New Hampshire, which holds its primary Jan. 8, since he's proved to naysayers that he's viable, but he's still resting on an underdog spirit.

After beating Romney by 9 points in Iowa, he declared his win would "start a prairie fire of new hope and zeal."  

With little sleep, Huckabee flew out and pivoted to face a new audience in New Hampshire.

There he pitched his plan for abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and replacing the income tax with a sales tax, and said, "What we're seeing is that this campaign is not just about people who have religious fervor. It's about people who love America but want it to be better and believe that change is necessary, and it's not going to happen from within Washington."

And McCain, while still stressing his experience, has long been the fabled rebel of his party in Washington and said Friday he has a long record of change and reforms.

"While working in Washington I brought about many reforms but the one that I am most proud of is the one that (Romney) had nothing to do with, when we were talking about the (Iraq troop) surge," McCain said. "The record is clear that he said nothing when we said we needed a change in strategy and we needed the surge."

Even Rudy Giuliani, who's campaign was built on themes of readiness and battle-tested toughness, for the first time started to sell himself as the change candidate Friday in Salem, N.H., saying he's the one who would bring reform to Washington, in education, health care and the fight against terrorism.

Huckabee and Romney were locked at the top in Iowa, but in New Hampshire, polls show the fight being between Romney and McCain, who won the state in the 2000 presidential race.

And the two didn't seem to relent for a second in the ad wars.

McCain launched a new Web ad Friday called "Leadership" ridiculing Romney for once saying he'd sit down with attorneys for governing advice, and for suggesting he'd just go to the State Department for foreign policy tips.

"When it comes to leadership, John McCain doesn't have to call anyone," the narrator says.

Click here to see the McCain ad.

Romney fired back with a Web ad of his own called "Twists," which assailed McCain for voting against President Bush's tax cuts and supporting an immigration plan the ad called "amnesty." Those are points Romney's been hitting ever since McCain started to demonstrate a comeback in New Hampshire polls.

"McCain is not as conservative as Romney," the narrator says. "Higher taxes, amnesty for illegals. That's straight talk for being in Washington too long."

Click here to see the Romney ad.

The latest Zogby tracking poll, from Dec. 31-Jan. 3, showed McCain with 34 percent support in New Hampshire, compared with Romney at 30 percent and Huckabee with 10 percent. The poll showed Giuliani with 9 percent and Ron Paul with 7 percent.

But Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman told FOX News Friday they're going into New Hampshire with the same face-to-face, town-by-town strategy of personal contact that powered Huckabee through Iowa, and shooting for a strong finish.

"We think we're gonna surprise a few folks next week here in New Hampshire, and this is a retail politics type state," he said. "Mike Huckabee's the very best on one-on-one campaigning. He connects with people in ways we haven't seen from any politicians in a long time."

Huckabee and McCain each told FOX News that the race between them will be respectful and friendly.

Romney still has the deepest pockets, which could keep him alive -- plus as the former Massachusetts governor he's battling in his own backyard in New Hampshire. But a second consecutive defeat could be devastating.

He also told FOX News that the race with McCain will not be personal, but there was a catch.

"I respect John McCain. He's an honorable man," Romney said. "But I think he's proven that you can be honorable and wrong."

FOX News' Carl Cameron, Shushannah Walshe, Mosheh Oinounou and Malini Bawa and The Associated Press contributed to this report.