TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Rick Perry's bid for the
Republican presidential nomination will rise or fall on his 10-year record as
Texas governor.
In Monday's crackling GOP debate, his rivals
attacked that record as never before, led by a newly energized Mitt Romney and
hard-charging Michele Bachmann.
Perry, holding his own but looking besieged at
times, defended himself vigorously on most fronts. He acknowledged mishandling
a schoolgirl vaccination program, however, and asked for understanding about
Texas' need to work with illegal immigrants who seek citizenship and college educations.
As President Barack Obama might say: Welcome to the
role of an incumbent with a complex record to defend from critics on all sides.
The spirited exchanges showed that the top
Republican candidates differ not merely in style but on key issues such as
immigration, health policy and Social Security. For now, at least, Perry is the
front-runner the others are hoping to catch.
Romney, the former one-term Massachusetts governor
running second in recent GOP polls, tried to blunt Perry's strongest point —
his Texas jobs record — while exploiting what might be Perry's most troublesome
issue, Social Security.
The deeply conservative Tampa audience seemed to
shift to and from Perry's side during the two-hour forum, sponsored by CNN and
the Tea Party Express.
On Social Security, Romney said, it wasn't so bad
that Perry has called the program "a Ponzi scheme." The bigger
problem, he said, is Perry's writings that suggest Social Security is
unconstitutional.
"Does Gov. Perry continue to believe that
Social Security should not be a federal program, that it's unconstitutional and
it should be returned to the states?" Romney said.
The federal government made mistakes when Social
Security was created decades ago, Perry said. However, he said, "obviously
we're not going to take that program away" now that retirees have counted
on it for 70 years.
Each man accused the other of trying to frighten
older Americans. Perry noted that Social Security's long-term finances face
problems, and asked, "Are there ways to move the states into Social
Security for state employees or for retirees?"
As for Perry's boast that Texas added more than a
million jobs during his time in office, Romney suggested the governor was
mostly lucky.
"If you're dealt four aces, that doesn't make
you necessarily a great poker player," Romney said. He actually named
five: Texas's "zero income tax, low regulation, right-to-work state
(status), oil in the ground and a Republican legislature."
Perry essentially laughed off the suggestion that
it's easy to create a million jobs even with those advantages. He cited his
efforts to reduce litigation, regulation and other perceived impediments to job
creation that other states endure.
Perry again said he should have consulted the state
legislature before ordering all Texas pre-teen girls to be vaccinated against a
virus that can cause cervical cancer, unless their parents refused. "I am
always going to err on the side of life," he said.
Bachmann, a tea party favorite who has fallen back
in recent polls, swung in forcefully.
"Is it about life or was it about millions of
dollars and potentially billions for a drug company" whose lobbyist was a
former top Perry aide, she asked.
Perry said the drug maker, Merck, gave his campaign
$5,000 of the roughly $30 million he raised.
"If you're saying that I can be bought for
$5,000, I'm offended," Perry said.
The Minnesota congresswoman shot back, "Well,
I'm offended for all the little girls and the parents that didn't have a
choice."
It was perhaps the sharpest onstage exchange of the
campaign so far. But Perry had more issues to defend. He brushed off Rep. Ron
Paul's claim that he had raised taxes on Texas.
Illegal immigration was a tougher discussion. Perry
said it was not feasible to build a fence the entire length of the Texas-Mexico
border. And he defended his decision to grant in-state college tuition to
illegal immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship.
His approach to immigration is similar to that of
his predecessor, President George W. Bush. But like Bush, he found an
unreceptive audience among conservative voters.
"Of course we build a fence, and of course we
do not give in-state tuition credits to people who come here illegally,"
Romney said. "That only attracts people to come here and take advantage of
America's great beneficence."
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman agreed.
Perry asked for understanding. Mexico "has a
clear and a long relationship with this state," he said of Texas. Illegal
immigrants who go to college can become productive residents instead of staying
"on the government dole" for the rest of their lives, he said.
"It's working well in the state of
Texas," Perry said.
Over the next few weeks and months, his rivals seem
determined to show that what works well in Texas might not work for the nation
as a whole.
Associated Press writer Mitch Stacy contributed to
this report.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
