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Romney, Giuliani Steal Show in Debate

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 04:42 CDT

By Jill Lawrence

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani went after each other and Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton in a debate here Tuesday that tested the GOP field on taxes, spending and other economic subjects.

The debate marked the debut of Fred Thompson on a stage with eight rivals. Romney welcomed him by comparing the campaign to Thompson's former role as a district attorney on NBC's Law & Order: "It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever, and Fred Thompson shows up at the end."

"To think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage," Thompson joked.

The former Tennessee senator couched many of his answers in general terms. He was most specific on controlling Social Security costs. He said he would index benefits for future retirees to inflation instead of wages. "We have to let people provide for some of their own savings for their retirement while they're still working," he said.

Taxes and spending were at the heart of the Romney-Giuliani argument over who is a true fiscal conservative. The two threw conflicting statistics at each other then faced off over the line-item veto, which lets governors cut specific items from a budget.

The Supreme Court declared a federal version unconstitutional in a case that Giuliani, as New York City mayor, helped bring. Romney supports a revised line-item veto that he says passes constitutional muster.

"The place we differ is on the line-item veto," Romney said. "I had it, used it 844 times. I'd have never gone to the Supreme Court and said it's unconstitutional."

"I am in favor of a line-item veto, except you have to do it legally," Giuliani said. "And as the mayor of New York, if I had let President Clinton take $250 million away from the people of my city illegally and unconstitutionally, I wouldn't have been much of a mayor." He added: "I don't think it's a bad idea to have a Republican presidential candidate who actually has beat President Clinton at something."

The Clintons came up far more often than Ronald Reagan. "Hillary is filled with endless ways to spend," Giuliani said, and she wants to "put a lid on our growth."

Romney, who signed a universal health care plan as Massachusetts governor, took on Clinton's ideas in that area. "The way we improve something is not by putting more government into it. Of course, that's what Hillary Clinton wants to do," he said.

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said it's no surprise GOP candidates "wedded to the status quo" focused on her. They think she's "the strongest Democrat," he said.

Romney was the first to answer a question about whether a president would need authorization from Congress to take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities. "You sit down with your attorneys" for advice, he said, but "the president of the United States has to do what's in the best interest of the United States."

That brought a sharp retort from Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who is anti-war: "This idea of ... talking to attorneys totally baffles me. Why don't we just open up the Constitution and read it? You're not allowed to go to war without a declaration of war." The rest of the field said they'd consult with Congress only if there was time.

Arizona Sen. John McCain elaborated on recent remarks that he would have asked Americans to do more than "go shopping," as President Bush urged, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks: "I would have told them ... consider the military, also the Peace Corps, also AmeriCorps, also neighborhood watches, also volunteer organizations."

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was asked whether he would have vetoed the expansion of a children's health insurance program, as Bush recently did. Huckabee said he would not have let that become "the only option you had."

The debate was sponsored by CNBC, MSNBC and Dow Jones. Also participating were Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Tom Tancredo of Colorado.

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Source: USA TODAY

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