After weathering a media firestorm this past week over a series of provocative comments he made regarding President Obama’s religion, prenatal testing and other issues, former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) had entered Wednesday night’s presidential debate in Mesa, Ariz., aiming to portray himself as the “authentic” candidate and only consistent conservative in the race.
Instead, he fell fall short of that goal.
Republican presidential candidates took advantage of opportunities to attack each other and President Obama at the GOP debate in Arizona on Wednesday night. (Feb. 22)
See who said what in the last GOP debate.
Santorum, who has been riding a surge of momentum in the polls, found himself struggling to defend his record in Congress as his presidential rivals blasted him on earmarking, contraception and the No Child Left Behind law at the CNN debate, the last showdown before next month’s Super Tuesday contests.
“Politics is a team sport, folks,” a resigned Santorum said at one point when challenged to explain his support for George W. Bush’s signature education law, which Santorum had later said he regretted supporting.
He explained Wednesday night that he’d backed the law because sometimes in politics it’s necessary to “take one for the team” – an explanation that contrasted sharply with his previous scrappy debate performances, and one that’s likely to leave him vulnerable to criticism ahead of key primaries in Arizona and Michigan next week.
Romney, in turn, came under fire for his newly-released tax plan, which Santorum argued amounted to “raising taxes on the top one percent, adopting the Occupy Wall Street rhetoric.” Santorum also questioned Romney’s record as governor, saying he required hospitals to provide the “morning after” pill to victims of rape, a charge that Romney dismissed as untrue.
The debate, sponsored by CNN and held at the Mesa Arts Center, was the 20th of the primary race and is perhaps the final showdown of the GOP primary race. It came as Santorum is eroding Romney’s lead in several key states, including Michigan and Arizona.
Also taking part in the debate were former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), both trailing in the polls. Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), who dropped his White House bid and endorsed Gingrich last month, was also in the crowd, seated next to Gingrich’s wife, Callista.
Paul, who has begun airing sharp attack ads against Santorum, kept his sights trained on the former Pennsylvania senator Wednesday night, reprising his charge that Santorum is “a fake” and arguing that he has previously supported Planned Parenthood.
Gingrich, meanwhile, took a lower profile than during previous debates, although he made the claim at one point in the night that “not once in the 2008 campaign did anyone in the elite media ask Barack Obama why he voted in favor of infanticide.”
With an eye toward regaining lost ground in the race, Romney on Wednesday released a new tax plan hours after President Obama released his own tax proposal.
In response to Santorum’s criticism, Romney contended Wednesday night that his plan is “going to cut taxes on everybody across the country by twenty percent,” including taxes on the very wealthy.
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