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St. Petersburg, Fla. — The three Republican presidential candidates leading the pack in Iowa clashed sharply on immigration Wednesday evening, jockeying to gain an advantage that Republican voters in the Hawkeye State have ranked the most important of this election.
The skirmishing took place at the Mahaffey Theater, where CNN and YouTube sponsored a freewheeling debate among eight Republican presidential candidates. Anti-war protesters chanted slogans in pouring rain outside the theater, setting the stage for a showdown on foreign policy.
The debate format allowed the public to take a larger role than in other debates. Moderator Anderson Cooper, a CNN anchor, asked the candidates to answer questions submitted in video clips composed by Americans around the country.
Immigration, however, took center stage.
Some of the most heated exchanges of the evening came immediately when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney accused Rudy Giuliani of providing sanctuary for illegal immigrants as mayor of New York City.
Giuliani shot back by accusing Romney of employing illegal immigrants at his home.
“It’s unfortunate, but Mitt generally criticizes people in a situation in which he’s had by far the worst record,” said Giuliani. “There was even a sanctuary mansion. At his own home, illegal immigrants were being employed.”
Romney also took a swing at Mike Huckabee, who has climbed within a few points of Romney in Iowa polls.
Romney attacked the former Arkansas governor for once supporting a bill that would have given the children of illegal immigrants scholarship opportunities.
“[H]e basically said that he fought for giving scholarships to illegal aliens,” said Romney. “That reminds me of what it’s like talking to liberals in Massachusetts. They have great reasons for taking taxpayer money and using it for things they think are the right thing to do.”
Huckabee deflected the thrust by subtly alluding to Romney’s privileged upbringing as the son of a man who served as chairman of American Motors Corp. and governor of Michigan.
“You know something, I worked my way through college,” said Huckabee. “I started work when I was 14 and I had to pay my way through. I know how hard it is to get that degree.”
As an undergraduate, Romney attended two elite private universities, Stanford University and Brigham Young University, and he also earned degrees from Harvard University.
In a recent poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News, Republican voters in Iowa rated immigration as the one issue they most wanted to hear candidates discuss.
Romney is narrowly leading the field in Iowa with an average of 26 percent support, according to Real Clear Politics, a website that compiles survey data. Huckabee is in second with an average 24 percent support. Giuliani is running slightly ahead of former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), although a recent ABC News/ Washington Post poll gave Thompson a razor-thin advantage over the mayor.
The Republican candidates found more agreement on the question of taxes and government spending. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Romney, Giuliani, and Thompson discussed emphatically their plans for cutting government spending.
McCain pledged to veto “every single pork barrel bill that comes across my desk.”
Romney pledged to do the same and also called for fundamental reform of entitlement programs.
Giuliani proposed “across-the-board spending cuts” of federal programs and eliminating funding for government programs that the Office of Management and Budget say are failing.
All the candidates also announced their opposition to raising taxes. But a few refused to pledge never to raise taxes, in response to a request submitted by Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said taxes might have to be raised in the event of a national emergency.
Consensus was short lived, though.
McCain scolded Romney for refusing to characterize the interrogation technique known as water-boarding as a form of torture. “I am astonished that you would think such a — such a torture would be inflicted on anyone in our — who we held captive and anyone could believe that’s not torture,” said McCain to Romney. “It’s a violation of the Geneva Convention.” McCain also pointedly criticized Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) for calling for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. McCain accused Paul of promoting the type of isolationism that led to the outbreak of World War II. Paul said McCain had distorted his position and explained that he opposed military intervention in other countries but endorsed other forms of interaction. CNN, the host of the debate, also took some criticism Wednesday evening.
Cooper gave retired Brigadier General Keith Kerr, an openly gay veteran, a chance to grill the candidates about the service of gays and lesbians in the military.
Republican critics pointed out that Kerr appeared to have held an advisory position with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign.
Cooper later conceded there was evidence of this but said that CNN was not aware of it before the debate.
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