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Politics

Romney tangles with rest of GOP slate in fiery debate

MANCHESTER, N.H. - It was five against one, or maybe one against five: Mitt Romney skirmished with each of his Republican rivals on Saturday night in a fiery debate.

He tangled with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, his main rival in New Hampshire, over immigration. He traded barbs with Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, on foreign policy. Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee sparred with him on health care. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani poked fun at his penchant for running negative ads. And Romney even debated Rep. Ron Paul of Texas on foreign policy.

Romney, set back by his defeat in the Iowa caucuses on Thursday, is placing his hopes on a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.

The stakes in the debate were highest for Romney and for McCain, who both badly want to win New Hampshire, and they ended up having some of the most spirited exchanges of the night. Romney took aim at McCain's support last spring for an immigration proposal that was roundly opposed by Republicans.

McCain then turned Romney's new campaign theme against him. "We disagree on a lot of issues," McCain said. "But I agree, you are the candidate of change." McCain was poking fun at Romney's renewed effort to promote himself as a change agent with a jibe at Romney's history of changing his positions on issues like abortion rights.

Romney, whose campaign ran an advertisement during a break in the debate criticizing McCain's stances on taxes and immigration policies, shot back that "the personal barbs are interesting but unnecessary."

Nearly all the candidates had a reason to take aim at Romney, whom they sensed was weakened by his second-place showing in Iowa and whose ability to pour his personal fortune into his campaign has threatened them.

Some of the testiest exchanges came when Romney criticized Huckabee for an article Huckabee wrote in which he criticized what he called the "arrogant bunker mentality" of the Bush administration's foreign policy.

"Did you read the article before you commented on it?" Huckabee asked.

Romney icily responded, "I got a copy of the article and read the article."

Then, when Huckabee suggested that Romney had not originally supported the troop buildup in Iraq, Romney said he was wrong.

"Governor, don't try to characterize my position," Romney said.

"Which one?" Huckabee asked, a not-so-subtle reference to Romney's reputation for changing his mind on issues.

"You know, we're wise to talk about policies, and not to make personal attacks," said Romney, who has run the most negative ads - his campaign calls them "contrast ads" - of any candidate.

Thompson tangled with Romney over his health care plan in Massachusetts, charging that he favored mandates in his own state. When Romney said that he only supports certain kinds of mandates, Thompson retorted, "The ones you come up with."

[Last modified January 6, 2008, 00:03:47]