When Santorum came under fire for supporting earmarks as a senator from Pennsylvania, he countered by noting that Romney had sought federal money when he was governor of Massachusetts and when he was in charge of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Romney didn’t apologize for the money he received from Washington for the latter, telling his rival, “Our Games were successful. But while I was fighting to save the Olympics, you were fighting to save the ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’ ”
Santorum began to respond, only to be interrupted by Romney, which brought a sharp response from the former senator. “You’re misrepresenting the facts,” Santorum said. “You don’t know what you’re taking about.”
The high-stakes debate came six days before crucial primaries in Arizona and Michigan and less than two weeks before Super Tuesday, the biggest round of contests this year. Santorum’s surge, the latest twist in what has been an unpredictable nomination contest, has put Romney in jeopardy of losing in Michigan, where he was born and raised.
Romney is favored to win here in Arizona next week, but a loss in Michigan would represent a major setback for his candidacy and could redraw the shape of the race as no other event has done.
The two other remaining candidates, former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), leapt into the conversation throughout the nearly two-hour debate. Gingrich performed well overall and Paul was alternately funny and biting.
But the focus of the evening was on the competition between the two front-runners. This was Santorum’s first time in the spotlight, and he felt more heat than he has in any of the previous 19 Republican debates.
He and Romney fought over bailouts of Wall Street and the auto industry, over debt and deficits, over comments Santorum has made about contraception, and over the health-care plan Romney signed as governor of Massachusetts. Santorum said Romney would cede that issue in a fall campaign against President Obama.
When Romney noted that he had balanced the Massachusetts budget for four straight years, Santorum scoffed, saying that was required by the state’s constitution. “Don’t go around bragging about something you have to do,” he said. “Michael Dukakis balanced the budget for 10 years. Does that make him qualified to be president of the United States? I don’t think so,” he added, referring to another former Massachusetts governor.
Although Santorum had good moments, it was Romney who emerged stronger from the encounter. He arrived well prepared with an intimate knowledge of Santorum’s record, which he offered up at pivotal moments to try to throw his opponent off stride.
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