Thompson survives debut

Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) emerged from Tuesday afternoon’s Republican debate, his first, having delivered a solid performance free of major gaffes and largely unscathed by rivals.

{mosads}It probably answered skepticism among pundits and analysts who questioned whether the former senator could go toe to toe with trail-hardened candidates and come out looking competent on the economic issues upon which the debate focused.

Thompson provided statistics to back up answers, and warned against uncontrolled spending while suggesting that the economy is doing well and “there’s no reason to believe we’re headed toward an economic recession.” He stuck to the well-worn but traditionally effective GOP theme of advocating lower taxes and spending.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made the only “Law & Order” joke, saying toward the end of the debate that the GOP contest was a lot like the popular crime series. “It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever and Fred Thompson shows up at the end,” Romney joked.

There were few fireworks, but fans of political pugilism savored exchanges between Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

The two men continued to spar over the economic records of the state and city they governed. Giuliani accused Romney of raising taxes while he was governor, and Romney challenged Giuliani for instituting a commuter tax and for disputing the constitutionality of the line-item veto when Bill Clinton was president.

Romney said he “exercised” the line-item veto 844 times to cut spending while he was governor, adding it was a mistake for Giuliani to challenge it in court. The line-item veto was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, a fact Giuliani seemed to enjoy noting.

“It’s unconstitutional,” Giuliani said, adding the barbed inquiry, “What can you do about that if you’re a strict constructionist?”

The former mayor also boasted of having challenged Clinton in the Supreme Court and won.
Romney, laughing, returned fire at Giuliani for saying that he had raised taxes while he was governor.

“It’s a nice line, but it’s baloney,” Romney said. “Mayor, you’ve got to check your facts.”

Though the debate was billed as one focused on economic issues – the host station, CNBC, had stock tickers repeatedly displaying the Dow and S&P indexes’ record closing levels – the debate repeatedly turned toward the Iraq War.

Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) used a question about sacrifice to broach the subject, reminding the audience that he was opposed to President Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s original strategies in Iraq, and he was an early supporter of the troop surge.

Thompson called the war “a front in a much broader war.” He added that if former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had not been removed from power he would have worked toward developing nuclear capabilities that would have caused a chain reaction and a “nuclearized” Middle East.

While the candidates mostly stayed convivial on stage, their campaigns fought a war of press releases behid the scenes. Thompson’s campaign targeted both Romney’s and Giuliani’s economic records. Its releases echoed Giuliani’s charges that Romney raised taxes as governor and Romney’s releases charging that Romney had raised taxes.

Onstage, the constant target was the Democratic front-runner, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.). Giuliani time and again took shots at her, as he has in recent weeks, in an effort to portray himself as the candidate best positioned to defeat her.

The candidates all spoke of keeping taxes low, cutting spending and ensuring that free trade continues. Second-tier candidates Reps. Duncan Hunter (Calif.) and Tom Tancredo (Colo.) criticized free trade agreements with countries such as China, leading McCain to quip that with all the “bashing” of free trade, former President Ronald Reagan “must be spinning in his grave.”

Speaking in Michigan, where the automotive industry is struggling and the unemployment rate is almost double the nation’s average, the candidates hedged their beliefs that the American economy is strong.

All of them except Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) said that if they were president and saw an immediate threat from Iran, they would undertake strategic attacks without congressional approval. Paul said the rest of the field was engaging in “war propaganda.”

Paul said he would not support the eventual GOP nominee unless they pledged to end the Iraq war, and both Brownback and Hunter said he will support the nominee, but they want that person to be an anti-abortion rights candidate.