White House hopefuls face off in the aftermath of Iowa
(CNN) — A narrowed field of White House hopefuls sparred about nuclear terrorism, immigration and one another as they faced off in a double-feature debate in New Hampshire on Saturday, just three days before the state holds the first-in-the-nation primaries.
The six Republicans and four Democrats mingled briefly on stage at Saint Anselm College in Manchester — some shaking hands, others hugging and chatting — in between their respective debates as the audience applauded.
Republicans went first in the invitation-only event, with world affairs dominating the first portion of the debate.
Mike Huckabee, fresh from his big win in the Iowa caucuses, defended his statements criticizing President Bush’s foreign policy for reflecting an arrogant bunker mentality.
I was speaking to the fact that there were times when we gave the world the impression that we were going to ignore what they thought or what they felt, and we were going to do whatever it is we wanted to do, Huckabee said.
Mitt Romney — the candidate Huckabee defeated in Iowa and sat next to during the debate — pounced on Huckabee’s remarks.
The president is not arrogant. The president is not subject to a bunker mentality, Romney said. The president has acted out of his desire to keep America safe. And we owe him a debt of gratitude for keeping this country safe over the last six years.
During the spirited discussion on foreign policy, Romney told Huckabee, Don’t try and characterize my positions.
Which one? Huckabee then immediately asked, prompting the hundreds of journalists watching the debate from the Saint Anselm College filing center to burst into laughter.
Romney also sparred with Sen. John McCain on the issue of immigration, calling his plan to provide a legal path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants a form of amnesty. Romney has been airing television ads critical of McCain’s position in New Hampshire.
It’s not amnesty, and for you to describe it as such in your attack ads, my friend — you can spend your whole fortune on these attack ads, but it still won’t be true, McCain shot back.
Is there a way to have this about issues and not personal attacks? I hope so, Romney responded.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said his priority as president would be dealing with illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.
Since you can’t throw out all 12 million people, whether Governor Romney would like to do that or not or anybody else would, you just can’t do it. It’s not physically possible to do.
Meanwhile, Ron Paul decried the country’s economic policies.
[Inflation] comes from deficit financing with this war-mongering foreign policy we have. We run up the deficits. We tax. We borrow. We borrow from the Chinese. We can’t borrow enough, Paul said.
Later, each candidate was asked to compare himself with the campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama and why he should receive the support of independents.
All the Republicans distanced themselves from Obama’s views — which Fred Thompson called liberal — except for Mike Huckabee, who talked about the enthusiasm of Obama’s supporters and the public’s desire for a president to transcend divisions of political parties.
Saturday night’s debate — sponsored by ABC News, Facebook and WMUR –was the last opportunity for the candidates to duke it out on the same stage before New Hampshire voters have their say.
The Democratic debate — featuring Sen. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama and Bill Richardson — was getting under way.
In order to participate in Saturday evening’s debate, candidates had to either finish in the top four in Iowa or get at least five percent in recent New Hampshire or national polls.
Joe Biden and Chris Dodd dropped out of the Democratic race after disappointing finishes in Iowa.
The campaign for Republican hopeful Dennis Kucinich, who did not make the threshold for the debate, filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, saying that ABC is violating its obligation to operate in the public interest by not letting him participate.
The debates come after Iowa wins for Huckabee and Obama, but in the Granite State, different leaders could emerge.
Clinton and Obama are tied at the top among Democrats, and McCain is leading the GOP pack, according to results from a new CNN WMUR/New Hampshire presidential primary poll.
The survey was conducted by the University of New Hampshire. Clinton and Obama each grabbed the support of 33 percent of New Hampshire voters who said they plan to vote in the state’s Democratic primary.
Twenty percent said they would vote for Edwards. Four percent chose Richardson, and 2 percent chose Kucinich.
On the Republican side, 33 percent of likely Republican primary-goes in New Hampshire said McCain was their top pick. Coming in second was Mitt Romney with 27 percent.
Giuliani had 14 percent, followed by Huckabee with 11 percent, Paul with 9 percent and Duncan Hunter and Thompson with 1 percent each.
The poll, released just hours before the debate, has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. E-mail to a friend
