COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ten Republican candidates for president, standing nearly toe-to-toe, teased out their differences over immigration, abortion and conservative purity Tuesday night in a feisty debate that sharpened distinctions among the party's top White House contenders.
In one of the liveliest exchanges, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney deplored rival Sen. John McCain's stand on illegal immigration. Romney said McCain's plan for a "special pathway" to citizenship could turn out as "bad" as his signature campaign-finance reform law, which is widely reviled among conservatives.
The Arizona senator retorted with a biting remark on Romney's pattern of switching stands on issues. "I haven't changed my position
Such was the tone of the second Republican debate, a contrast with the first nearly two weeks ago at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley. Then, the 10 men in suits also stood behind lecterns in a line on stage, but this time they engaged and challenged one another more directly -- and often more pointedly.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani pounced at one of the least-known candidates, Ron Paul, when the Texas congressman suggested that terrorists struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, because "we've been bombing Iraq for 10 years."
"That's an extraordinary statement," Giuliani snapped, then called on Paul "to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn't really mean it."
The crowd of invited guests at the University of South Carolina roared its approval, but Paul did not back down. "I believe very sincerely that the CIA is correct when they teach and talk about blowback," he said. "They don't come here to attack us because we're rich and we're free. They come and they attack us because we're over there."
That set off a round of candidates shouting and clamoring to be heard.
The debate, sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party, put a new spotlight on Giuliani's status as the only Republican in the field who supports abortion rights. Giuliani avoided the topic when it came up -- even after former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore cited Giuliani's abortion position to question his conservative credentials. When pressed, Giuliani stressed his personal opposition to abortion and record of promoting adoptions in New York.
"I think we can agree, all of us on this stage, that we should seek reductions in abortion," he said. "I ultimately do believe in a woman's right of choice, but I think that there are ways in which we can reduce abortions."
