ORLANDO, FLA. — The top two candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination intensified their attacks on each other Thursday in a debate that came as polls indicate the race tightening between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Romney, who lost his front-runner status to Perry in August but is regaining ground in recent polls, landed several serious punches on Perry’s views on illegal immigration, Social Security and other issues.
Perry, appearing in his third debate since joining the race, appeared tentative and fatigued at times, particularly in the second half of the debate when he struggled to coherently portray Romney as a candidate who has frequently changed positions on big issues like education and health care.
“He was for Race to the Top, he’s for Obamacare, and now he’s against it,” Perry said, appearing to struggle to find the next sentence. “I mean, we’ll wait until tomorrow and … and … and see which Mitt Romney we’re really talking to tonight.”
Perry’s best moments against Romney came early when he aggressively attacked the Massachusetts health care reform law Romney authored, describing it as “an absolute bust” that Romney promoted as a model for the rest of the country.
The debate, sponsored by Fox News and Google, included questions submitted over the Internet by voters who wanted to know what the candidates would do about joblessness, government intrusion and gays serving in the military. It also included spirited exchanges between the seven other candidates, including former pizza executive Herman Cain, who drew applause for his proposal for an across-the-board 9 percent tax rate.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Iowa Straw Poll winner who has since faded in the polls, tried to clarify her recent incorrect claim that the human papillomavirus vaccine causes mental retardation and used it again to attack Perry for trying to mandate that all Texas girls receive the shot.
Though the candidates went after each other, they saved some of their most pointed criticisms for President Obama. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson drew the most raucous laughs of the night from the audience when he said his neighbor’s dogs “created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.”
It was Perry and Romney, though, who came out swinging in what was their third debate in as many weeks. At one point, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said he would be reluctant to choose either as a running mate because they might eventually bludgeon each other to death.
Romney launched into an intense attack on Perry at the midway point, zeroing in on Perry’s policy of allowing the children of illegal immigrants to receive in-state college tuition rates.
“It’s an argument I just can’t follow,” Romney said of the tuition policy. “Almost a hundred thousand-dollar discount if you are an illegal alien. That kind of magnet draws people into this country to get that education, to get that hundred thousand-dollar break.”
Perry defended the policy as the overwhelming choice of Texans and noted that he is the only contender with experience securing the border with Mexico.
“But if you say we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason other than that they’ve been brought here through no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart,” Perry said. “We need to educate those children or they will become a drag on our society.”
