Why GOP candidates should cool it

LAS VEGAS – The Republican presidential candidates, at least for a night, turned their attention away from President Obama to pummel each other over everything from taxes to health care to immigration in one of the most contentious debates of the season.
Those with the most to lose, Mitt Romney and Herman Cain, battled the rest of the field on stage in Las Vegas Tuesday night to defend their status as front-runners. Cain faced criticism from just about every candidate on his 9-9-9 tax plan and Romney engaged in some of the most heated arguments to date over his record.


Oct. 18, 2011: Republican presidential candidates Herman Cain, left, shakes hands with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney looks on before a Republican presidential debate Tuesday, in Las Vegas.


In a debate marked by audience boos and hisses, as well as strong applause for their favorites, the candidates took each other to task over their legislative and governing records, as well as prior statements in earlier debates.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, toggled on stage between scolding opponents for interrupting him and defending his record on health care and immigration against an onslaught of attacks.

Perhaps the most dramatic clash of the night was with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who until Cain started to surge was seen as Romney’s biggest threat in the race. An energized Perry tried to call Romney on the carpet for his hiring of a lawn company that employed illegal immigrants dating back to 2006.
“You lose all of your standing from my perspective, because you hired illegals in your home, and you knew about it for a year,” Perry said, calling Romney’s claims of being tough on illegal immigration the “height of hypocrisy.”
Perry was referring to a set of newspaper investigations starting in 2006 that found Romney had employed a contractor that used illegal immigrants. When it was reported in 2007 that illegal immigrants were still being used by the contractor, Romney fired the company. The issue surfaced during Romney’s 2008 presidential run – its reappearance suggests the Perry campaign has been scouring for new ways to come at Romney.
In response to the charges in Vegas, Romney at first said he didn’t think he’d ever “hired an illegal” in his life.
Perry repeatedly tried to interrupt. After Romney told Perry, “I’m speaking, I’m speaking,” he stated: “This has been a tough couple of debates for Rick, and so I understand that you’re going to get testy.”
Romney eventually acknowledged that the lawn company used illegal immigrants, and he said he let the contractor go after learning of its continued offense. Later on in the debate, he scolded Perry again for interrupting, saying: “You have a problem with allowing someone to finish speaking.”
Romney in turn criticized Perry for his support of in-state tuition for some illegal immigrant students – a stance that has caused problems for Perry in past debates.
The clashes were frequent. Minutes earlier, Romney fended off repeated broadsides by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum about his support of the Massachusetts’ health care overhaul, which included a provision requiring people to get health insurance much like the federal health care overhaul.
“What you did is exactly what Barack Obama did, focused on the wrong problem,” Santorum said.
“The people of Massachusetts like it,” Romney said.
The debate opened with Cain effectively taking on the rest of the field, which was nearly united in opposition to his plan calling for a 9 percent income tax, corporate tax and national sales tax.
Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota led the assault moments after the debate began, saying Cain's call for a 9 percent federal sales tax would only be the beginning, with the rate rising later.


One other candidate deserves honorable mention: Michelle Bachmann. Her heartfelt support for women threatened with home foreclosure was far and away the most emotionally connective statement of the evening. Why can't more of these candidates show greater empathy toward people who are hurting in this economy? (By contrast, Romney had his worst moment when he seemed cold toward those in foreclosure troubles.)
But for those who watched this debate, what stood out more than the performance of any single candidate was the continual outbreak of fights and personal insults. Democrats are used to brawls, but not Republicans. Long ago, as Gloria Borger pointed out after the debate, Ronald Reagan often invoked what he called the 11th Commandment for the GOP: Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.
The candidates trampled all over that commandment Tuesday night. GOP leaders must have been horrified. Who can remember a debate when a Republican front-runner like Romney has been called a liar at least three times in a party debate? When Reagan ran in 1980, he and George H.W. Bush clashed hard over issues, but it was never personal -- and when it was over, Reagan tapped Bush as his running mate. Can anyone imagine Romney tapping Perry? If there is still a Republican establishment, its members ought to call the candidates and tell them to cool it. Call No. 1 should go to Santorum: For a man so far down in the polls to continue launching personal attacks against the party front-runner is both egotistical and self-indulgent.

Aetna Dental Access®