Ames, Lowa - Long simmering tensions between Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty boiled over Thursday during a Republican presidential debate in Iowa, as the two candidates engaged in a harsh back and forth over their White House qualifications.
Mitt Romney, meanwhile, faced questions about the universal health care plan he enacted as governor of Massachusetts, but for the second debate in a row, the Republican frontrunner escaped without suffering a campaign-altering blow.
The nationally televised forum, sponsored by Fox News and The Washington Examiner and held in an arena at Iowa State University, took place only hours after news broke that Texas Gov. Rick Perry plans to officially join the presidential fray on Saturday.
With a respectable jobs record, deeply-held Christian beliefs and an ability to raise millions for his campaign, Perry has the potential to fundamentally alter the shape of the Republican race.
The eight candidates on stage -- Romney, Pawlenty, Bachmann, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and businessman Herman Cain -- were largely complimentary when questioned about Perry.
The kind words were a departure from a series of sharp exchanges between Bachmann and Pawlenty that dominated the first half of the debate.
The unkind exchange between the two highlighted much of the two hour long Fox debate, leading a University of Virginia professor to say on Twitter: "Bachmann and Pawlenty are turning into a couple on TV’s "Divorce Court."
The Minnesotans shared the Fox News stage with Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who will announce Saturday that he, too, is running for president, did not participate.
The questions began with Bachmann, before moving on to Romney and Paul, perhaps a sign of who is leading in the race in Iowa. Pawlenty, who has minuscule results in polling and recently has seen some funders backing away, didn’t speak at all in the debate’s crucial first 10 minutes; even Cain and Huntsman were questioned before the former Minnesota governor.
But Pawlenty got his chance. Chris Wallace, a moderator, asked the former governor to address his criticism of Bachmann head on.
"Is she unqualified, or is she just beating you in the polls," said Wallace, who had once asked Bachmann whether she was a "flake."
Pawlenty was ready with an answer.
"She has done wonderful things in her life, absolutely wonderful things, but it’s an indisputable fact that in Congress, her record of accomplishment and results is non-existent," he said.
Bachmann’s rebuttal was equally withering.
"When you were governor in Minnesota, you implemented cap and trade in our state," she said. "And you praised the unconstitutional individual mandate and called for requiring all people in our state to purchase healthcare mandate. Third, you said the era of small government was over.
Pawlenty also was given a chance to redeem himself for his failure to go after Romney in a New Hampshire debate earlier this summer.
"I don’t want to miss that chance again, Chris. Look, Obamacare was patterned after Mitt’s plan in Massachusetts," Pawlenty said, adding that it was not credible to claim otherwise. "That’s why I call it ObamneyCare and I think that’s a fair label and I’m happy to call it that again tonight."
The debate was high risk and potentially high reward for both Minnesotans.
"I want to see how they how they handle the pressure," said Judd Saul, a Cedar Falls tea party activist, who has not chosen a favorite. "People love Tim Pawlenty (but) the word on the street is that he does not have the fire that Bachmann has."
Perhaps in response to that image, Pawlenty has stepped up the attacks on Bachmann.
"I liked him — until he started ditching on her," Theresa Lursen said of the governor’s criticism of Bachmann, at a rural Iowa picnic early in the week. "Then I backed away." She now supports Bachmann.
Bachmann’s challenge Thursday was to prove that she deserves to be regarded as a front-runner as the Saturday straw poll draws near. She also had to fend off a personal question. She once said that she studied tax law out of deference to her husband, to whom she is "submissive." She was asked if as president, she would submit to her husband’s opinion.
"What submission means, if that’s your question, is respect," she said.
Pawlenty, in recent days, has increasingly lowered expectations for his early Iowa showing. His only goal for the straw poll, he has said, is to move toward the front of the pack.
In an effort to prove himself, Pawlenty was equally tough on his Republican opponents and Obama.
No comments:
Post a Comment