WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In their second debate in less than 12 hours, the field of six Republican presidential hopefuls questioned their rivals' conservative bona fides while touting their respective records as the best to take on President Barack Obama in November.
As the GOP frontrunner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney drew intense and fiery exchanges from two of his perhaps closest rivals ahead of Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire.
At the NBC News-Facebook debate broadcast on NBC's 'Meet the Press' program, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich questioned the electability of Romney, who enjoys a wide lead in the Granite State.
'If his record was so great as governor of Massachusetts, why didn't he run for re-election,' Santorum said of Romney, who began his unsuccessful 2008 bid for the Republican presidential nomination very shortly after his one term as the Bay State's chief executive.
Also hammering Romney, Gingrich said the former governor lacks electability, calling him 'timid,' at the debate in Concord, N.H.
'I think that a bold Reagan conservative, with a very strong economic plan, is a lot more likely to succeed in that campaign than a relatively timid Massachusetts moderate, who even The Wall Street Journal said had an economic plan so timid it resembled Obama,' Gingrich said.
For his part, Romney stood by his record as governor and a businessman. 'I'm very proud of my record and I think the one thing you can't fool the people of New Hampshire about is the record of a governor next door,' Romney said, responding to attacks by his rivals.
Going into the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation presidential primary, a Suffolk University tracking poll released Sunday indicates that Romney enjoys a wide lead among the GOP presidential hopefuls, with 35 percent support among likely primary voters.
In a distant second was Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, with 20 percent support, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman at 11 percent, Gingrich with 9 percent support, Santorum at 8 percent and Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 1 percent.
The Suffolk University poll indicates also an 8-point slide for Romney since last Tuesday.
At last week's Iowa caucus, Romney won by just eight votes, edging out Santorum for the lead.
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