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GOP Rivals Mix Kudos With Issues At Debate

The Associated Press

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, from left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee take in applause before the beginning of Thursday’s debate in Boca Raton.

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By BILLY HOUSE and WILLIAM MARCH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 25, 2008

Video: Candidates Question Each Other

TAMPA - The final GOP presidential debate before Florida's crucial Tuesday primary proved to be a civil affair, but tested the candidates on topics from the tumbling U.S. economy and the Iraq war to a national catastrophic insurance fund.

Not only were the five candidates nice to each other Thursday night, at times they even defended each other.

Co-frontrunner Arizona Sen. John McCain defended Rudy Giuliani as a hero for his actions as New York City mayor after the Sept. 11 attacks.

At another point, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he disagreed with those who might say the 71-year-old McCain is too old to run for president.

There were some testy moments, though.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has saturated Florida with television ads over the past week while surging to the front of the pack in at least one major poll, refused to say how much of his own money he has spent on his campaign.

On Iraq, though, all but Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a libertarian-leaning Texan, endorsed President Bush's decision to invade Iraq, saying it was worth it regardless of whether weapons of mass destruction have since been found.

Both McCain and Romney said the war had been mismanaged, but agreed with Giuliani and Huckabee that the United States should remain in that country.

Both also hit Hillary Rodham Clinton for, what they say, is her call to withdraw troops.

A Critical Moment In Race

Televised by MSNBC and other outlets from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, the 90-minute debate came at a crucial time in the race.

Because polls indicate that McCain and Romney are the front-runners in Florida, the debate presented a chance for one to gain the upper hand.

For Giuliani and Huckabee, the debate represented perhaps a last, best hope to stake a claim that the statewide and national GOP race is not leaving them behind.

Giuliani had staked almost everything on winning Florida, choosing not to campaign aggressively in earlier state GOP contests.

In response to a question about why he has fallen from frontrunner to distant third, Giuliani prompted laughter with the answer: "We're going to come from behind and surprise everyone. We have them all lulled into a false sense of security now."

Florida represents the biggest prize to date, with its winner-take-all contest offering all of its 57 Republican National Convention delegates.

The state also represents the last chance for one of the hopefuls to gain the largest, most diverse state to vote before the so-called "Super Tuesday" of 21 state Republican contests on Feb. 5.

Right away, the economy took center-stage, with co-front-runner McCain prompted to declare: "I am very well-versed in economics."

"I was there in the Reagan revolution," the Arizona senator also reminded, as he fended off questions about whether he is as equipped to handle economic issues as national security concerns.

Mitt Romney was pressed to clear up whether he favors a national catastrophic fund that would help homeowners with damage from hurricanes.

Romney responded that he favors a "natural catastrophe effort" but not a fund.

Romney added that he was not in favor of having people in Iowa or elsewhere subsidizing a fund for Florida or Massachusetts, the state where he once governed. Romney said he would call experts together to craft such a program.

McCain and Huckabee both restated their opposition to a catastrophic fund.

Taking On Social Security

On Social Security reform, several of the candidates — notably Ron Paul — took stances not calculated to help them with Florida voters.

Paul reiterated his stance that he wants to abolish the program, though he added, "not overnight."

Romney advocated raising the retirement age as part of a plan to save the program, while allowing some Social Security taxes to go into private accounts — similar to the partial privatization plan advocated by President Bush.

Romney said the program "is not going to change for anybody who's in retirement or near retirement," but will for those in their 20s, 30s or 40s.

Huckabee said his Fair Tax proposal — replacing all federal taxes with a national sales tax — would solve the program's problems, calling it "a more reliable, more stable and much broader funding system."

On Romney's campaign spending, he refused to provide details.

"We'll report that on the 31st of January as required by law and probably not a minute earlier," he said. He said the reason he wouldn't answer because it's strategic information he didn't want to divulge to his opponents.

Romney added, however, "I have raised more money than anyone else on this stage," and said putting in his own money means "I owe no one anything. … I'm by far the biggest contributor to my own campaign."

Romney had spent $17.4million of his own money through the end of October, out of about $63 million total, and has said that he would spend more of his own money.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 641-5080 or bhouse@tampatrib.com.

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