GOP front-runner Mitt Romney sailed through the first New Hampshire debate virtually unscathed as six of his opponents pulled their punches, failing to land any strong hits.
Although there were some guarded barbs aimed at the former Massachusetts governor, for the most part, the debate was more about attacking President Barack Obama than each other.
Romney and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann were generally considered to be the biggest winners in the debate, while, if anyone lost, it was former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Romney’s closest contender in the polls.
In the biggest moment of the night, Pawlenty looked uncomfortable when moderator John King asked him to repeat his “Obamneycare” tag that he had coined just 36 hours earlier on the Sunday talk shows.
“If it was Obamneycare on Fox News Sunday, then why is it not Obamneycare with the governor standing right there?” King said.
That allowed Romney to fire back, pointing out the differences between Obamacare and the healthcare plan he had passed as governor of Massachusetts and sending a message to the president. “If in fact you did look at what we did in Massachusetts, why didn’t you give me a call and ask what worked and what didn’t?” he asked.
The only other time Pawlenty came close to criticizing Romney came when he said he was the only one of the seven on the stage who had consistently appointed conservative judges, knowing that Romney was the only other one who has ever been in a position to put anyone on the bench.
Of the other candidates, Rick Santorum failed to make the most of an opportunity to attack Romney for flip-flopping on abortion when he was asked whether Romney had “genuinely changed his mind” or only done so for political purposes. The former Pennsylvania senator said, “An issue should be in looking at any candidate is looking at the authenticity of that candidate and looking at their record over time and what they’ve fought for,” before touting his own pro-life credentials.
This gave Romney the chance to say, “I believe in the sanctity of life from the very beginning to the very end.”
That was one of several times that Romney came up with a better line than his opponents. In wrapping up, he said, “Any one of the people on this stage would be a better president than President Obama . . . This is the first time we’ve had a president that doesn’t have a foreign policy.”
Overall, none of the seven candidates faired badly. Bachmann started the evening taking everyone by surprise by revealing that she had filed papers to run. Throughout the evening she continued to show her conservative credentials, giving her a boost with the audience.
Bachmann defended the influence of the tea party movement on the Republican Party.
“The tea party is made up of disaffected Democrats, independents, people who have never been political a day in their life, people who are libertarians, Republicans,” she said. “It’s a wide swath of America coming together.That’s why the left fears it so much, because they are people who simply want to take the country back.”
Following the virtual collapse of his campaign after his top tier of advisers all quit, Newt Gingrich seemed to be trying too hard to distance himself from the pack, especially when comparing Muslims to Nazis and Communists when asked if he would allow them to be part of his government.
Gingrich also stood out by saying too many House Republicans had been too aggressive in backing Rep. Paul Ryan’s plans to cut spending.
On most points the candidates were mainly in agreement, especially when attacking Obamacare, opposing abortion and calling for an end to the war in Afghanistan.
On one of the few occasions that King asked them for a direct answer, five called for a constitutional amendment opposing gay marriage while only Herman Cain said the matter should be left for the states. The seventh candidate, Ron Paul, said the government should not be involved in the question of marriage.
The debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., was sponsored by CNN. It included seven of the likely contenders for the GOP nomination. Missing were possible entrants Sarah Palin, Jon Huntsman, Rudy Giuliani and Rick Perry. Gary Johnson was not invited because of low poll numbers.
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