Embattled Romney, Opponents Clash

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VIDEO: Candidates Dispute Immigration Plans

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"They are," McCain said.

A new poll conducted after last Thursday's Iowa caucuses by CNN and WMUR-TV reported McCain's support in New Hampshire at 33 percent; Romney's was at 27 percent.

The debate was held at St. Anselm College and was hosted by ABC News and the Facebook Web site. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) also participated in the 90-minute exchange.

The six candidates sniped at each other but agreed on many issues. The exception was Paul, whose angry, anti-government rhetoric once again introduced an element of surprise into the debate. Paul has raised nearly $19 million, making him a wild card in the race.

Most of the candidates affirmed their support for Bush's approach to foreign policy, saying he was right to attack Iraq and to increase troops on the ground there in 2007. McCain and Romney praised Bush for preventing another terrorist attack on U.S. soil after Sept. 11, 2001; Giuliani said by making the decision to "go on offense" against terrorists, "the president got the big decision of his presidency right."

Thompson also defended the invasion of Iraq, saying, "The bottom line is, we are in a global war. . . . We must do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves."

Huckabee said he supports the war in Iraq and the increase in troops, but said he thinks the country needs sufficient military might before engaging in wars overseas. "We [need to] make sure we have what we need before we go to war," Huckabee said.

And while every Republican called for cracking down on illegal immigration, the candidates sharply disagreed on how to deal with the millions of illegal immigrants currently living in the United States. Huckabee, Romney and Thompson proposed expelling them; Giuliani and McCain called for making distinctions among them.

Saying it is "just impossible" to "throw out 12 million people," Giuliani noted that even President Ronald Reagan chose to grant amnesty to some illegal immigrants. "I think he'd be in one of Mitt's negative commercials," Giuliani added, sparking laughter from the audience. "None of us has a perfect record on immigration."

But Romney said such an approach is unacceptable. "I disagree fundamentally with the idea that the 12 million people who have come here illegally should all be allowed to remain in the United States permanently," he said. "I think that's a form of amnesty, and that is not appropriate."

In a sign of how the political field has shifted since the Iowa caucuses, each Republican spoke on how he would face Obama in the general election. Thompson criticized him as liberal; McCain said he lacks the foreign policy experience and the background to be president.

But Romney said those arguments would fall flat, since Obama's Democratic rivals had already tried them and Obama "blew them away. It's a message of change."