Kennedy had criticized Republicans, saying that "under your economic program, under the program of Mr. Reagan and Mr. Bush, we saw the growth in terms of the unemployment, the growth in the number of children living in poverty, the growth in terms of those children out of wedlock."

Romney replied: "Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush. My positions don't talk about the things you suggest they talk about. This isn't a political issue."

Fehrnstrom also said that Romney voted for Tsongas to make a statement against Clinton. "He got to vote against Bill Clinton twice," the spokesman said, since Romney voted for George H.W. Bush in the general election.

And the spokesman said that Romney registered as "unenrolled for a period, which is not uncommon in Massachusetts with its large number of independent voters." He didn't specify exactly when Romney was unenrolled.

Some 49.7 percent of the state's voters are listed as unenrolled, meaning they can vote in either party's primary. Democrats, who dominate statewide offices, account for 36.9 percent of voters; Republicans, 12.5 percent.

Romney, the son of a Republican governor of Michigan in the 1960s, recalled voting for Reagan in 1980 and 1984, and "culturally," Fehrnstrom said, "Mitt Romney has always been a Republican." Town records in Belmont, Mass., the Boston suburb where Romney lives, go back only to 1995; Romney has been registered as a Republican since then.

Voters in key early states appear divided about the impact of Romney's uncertain past with Reagan.

"It would be a little bit better if he were consistent," said Don Burton, a retiree from Spartanburg, S.C., who's trying to choose between McCain, Romney and Giuliani. "McCain does seem more honest and forthright."

Sean Flaherty, a University of South Carolina student, saw echoes of what he's heard Reagan must have been like.

"Romney seems to be the spitting image, the way he lights up a room," Flaherty said. Romney's position changes don't bother him. "Every politician does that," Flaherty said.

"He's very Reagan-like," said Paul Grimm, a longtime political activist. "He's saying the Reagan revolution was a resounding turnabout, and I want to go back to that kind of strength."

However, there also were people such as Tom Middleton, a real estate broker who went to one of Reagan's inaugural balls in the 1980s.

"I got cold chills. There was God," he recalled. "He made people believe in America again. He was a man of his word."

Did Romney remind him of Reagan?

"Not really," said Middleton, who's still trying to decide between Romney and Giuliani. "But he does have the aura. He does have the look."