GOP’s 2008 top tier goes on attack

Mitt Romney proposed doubling the size of Guantanamo Bay’s detention center, John McCain defended his teamwork with Democrats in the Senate, and Rudolph W. Giuliani angrily demanded a retraction from a fellow presidential candidate who said the September 11 bombings were a result of U.S. actions in Iraq.

The three top-tier Republican presidential hopefuls sparred with each other and fended off attacks in the primary season’s second debate from seven lower-tier candidates who charged the front-runners are not conservative enough on spending, immigration, tax cuts and abortion to lead the Republican Party.

“Conversions on guns, conversions on abortion, conversions on immigration. You know, it’s beginning to truly sound like a Baptist tent revival meeting here,” said Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican and one of the challengers trying to gain ground on Mr. Romney, former governor of Massachusetts; Mr. McCain, a senator from Arizona; and Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York.

Mr. Giuliani again found himself on the defensive about his liberal-leaning views on abortion, gun-control and homosexual rights, but said Republican voters should be making their judgments on other factors — namely, who can beat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the general election.

“This election in 2008 is going to make a very big difference in whether we go in that direction,” he said during debate held at the University of South Carolina. “Republicans should be united to make sure that what the liberal media is talking about — our inevitable defeat — doesn’t happen.”

He said his fiscal record as mayor, combined with his security credentials, make him the strongest candidate. He explained his pro-choice position as a stance people can disagree with but said there should be agreement on all sides to “look for ways to reduce abortions.”

While defending signing a gun-control law as governor, Mr. Romney took the offensive on the war on terrorism and defended harsh interrogation techniques to defend the country.

Mr. Romney said that instead of closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as both Mr. McCain and President Bush have proposed, “My view is we ought to double Guantanamo.”

He also challenged Mr. McCain’s partnership with Democrats Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on immigration and Sen. Russ Feingold on campaign-finance restrictions, saying on immigration in particular that Mr. McCain wants to create a new pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens.

Mr. McCain defended his actions as the cost of bipartisanship on major issues.

“I don’t intend to block things. I intend to get results, and I intend to work on the hard things, not the easy ones,” he said.

With the immigration debate beginning in the Senate, Mr. McCain tied himself to the current negotiations that likely will lead to a bill granting citizenship rights to most illegal aliens.

“What the American people expect us to do is to sit down and work this issue out together,” he said.

He also challenged Mr. Romney, who has reversed positions on abortion and other issues.

“I have kept a consistent position on right to life. And I haven’t changed my position on even-numbered years or have changed because of the different offices that I may be running for.”

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