Criticism of the former Massachusetts governor zeroed in on the perception that he would be the strongest candidate against Democratic President Barack Obama in November’s election.
Wasting no time, former US House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich said Romney would “have a very hard time getting elected.”
“There’s a huge difference between a Reagan conservative and somebody who comes out of the Massachusetts culture who essentially has a moderate record,” Gingrich said in the opening moments of the NBC/Facebook debate in Concord, New Hampshire.
Opinion polls show Romney holds a wide lead in New Hampshire, which holds its first in the nation primary election on Tuesday, and also leads in South Carolina, the next state in the nominating process.
“If his record was so great as governor of Massachusetts, why didn’t he run for re-election,” Rick Santorum, a former US senator from Pennsylvania, said of Romney, who launched his unsuccessful 2008 White House bid just weeks after leaving the statehouse after one term.
Santorum has been riding a wave of popularity after a narrow second-place finish to Romney in the first Republican presidential nominating contest in Iowa last week.
Romney defended himself as “a solid conservative” who was in politics as a detour from his business career as a venture capitalist, and kept his focus more on Obama than on his Republican rivals.
“I happen to believe that if we want to replace a lifetime politician like Barack Obama ... we’ve got to choose someone who is not a lifetime politician, who has not spent his entire career in Washington.”
One of the biggest applause lines of the morning came from Jon Huntsman, who responded, albeit belatedly, to a comment that Romney had made about him in Saturday night’s Republican debate in Goffstown, New Hampshire.
Romney had slapped Huntsman for “implementing” Obama’s agenda as US ambassador to China.
Addressing debate moderator David Gregory, Huntsman said: “This country is divided, David, because of attitudes like that ... The American people are tired of partisan divisions.”
The candidates, who are essentially jockeying for a strong second place finish in New Hampshire behind Romney to gain some momentum heading to the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21, also attempted to take aim at each other.
When Gregory pointed out that Texas congressman Ron Paul has a thin legislative record despite a long career in Congress, Santorum found an opening.
“He’s never really passed anything of importance. He’s never been able to accomplish anything. He has no track record. He’s been out there on the margins,” Santorum said.
