GOP Hopefuls Talk Tough on Terrorism
The leading Republican candidates had two goals in Tuesday's GOP presidential debate in Columbia, S.C.--demonstrate their toughness on terrorism and establish themselves as true conservatives. They appeared to have succeeded in their first objective but left doubts about the second.
The candidates also began criticizing each other more aggressively--certainly more than they did in their first debate two weeks ago--and that made for a lively and occasionally revealing 90 minutes of political theater.
All of the "top tier" candidates--former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney--said they supported the war on terrorism as waged by President Bush and also backed Bush's goal of victory in Iraq.
McCain has been the most vocal in supporting the unpopular war, and he repeated his commitment last night even though he conceded that the conflict has been mismanaged by the Bush administration.
"We must succeed, and we cannot fail, and I will be the last man standing if necessary." McCain said. He argued that the consequences of a quick withdrawal would be chaos in the Middle East and encouragement of terrorists to attack American again.
But it was Giuliani whose performance seemed most likely to capture the lion's share of media attention.
He has been under attack since the last debate over his rambling and seemingly contradictory statements about abortion rights. This time, under questioning from a panel of journalists from Fox News, Giuliani was clearer in his statements that while he hates abortion, he favors a woman's right to choose. His prochoice position puts him at odds with antiabortion conservatives who could play a decisive role in South Carolina's early presidential primary next year and in other GOP primaries and caucuses. Giuliani, who leads in national polls, also tried to deflect questions about abortion by either attacking the Democrats or appealing for GOP unity.
It was Giuliani's criticism of another candidate that injected an unusual emotional note into the proceedings. At one point, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas seemed to suggest that terrorists attacked the United States on 9/11 because America had bombed Iraq to force compliance with United Nations sanctions. This gave the former New York mayor the opportunity he was looking for to remind viewers of his strong leadership in response to the terrorist attacks on his city.
Giuliani, speaking out of turn, interjected: "May I comment on that? That's really an extraordinary statement. That's an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq. I don't think I've heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11."
Amid loud applause from the audience, the former mayor added sharply, "And I would ask the congressman to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn't really mean that." Paul didn't back off.
Other flashpoints and interesting moments:
- Romney pointed out that McCain sponsored bills that have drawn conservatives' fire--an immigration measure that McCain developed with Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and campaign finance legislation that he wrote with Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.
"My fear is that McCain-Kennedy would do to immigration what McCain-Feingold has done to campaign finance and money in politics, and that's bad," Romney said. - McCain fired back. Referring to Romney's changing his views on abortion and gay rights, McCain said, "Well, I've taken and kept a consistent position on campaign finance reform. I have kept a consistent position on right to life. And I haven't changed my position even on even-numbers years or have changed because of the different offices that I may be running for."
- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee got a big laugh from the crowd when he called for cuts in federal spending with a poke at Democratic candidate John Edwards, who has been widely criticized for getting a $400 haircut.
"We've had a Congress that has spent money like Edwards at a beauty shop," Huckabee said. - McCain opposed the use of torture, even to get information about a possible pending attack. "It's not about the terrorists, it's about us," said McCain, a former prisoner of war who was tortured in Vietnam. "It's about what kind of country we are."
- Other candidates were more willing to use harsh methods, though they declined to call them torture. Romney said he would support "not torture but enhanced interrogation techniques."
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