Republicans Play to Right in Fla. Debate

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GOP Candidates Spar at Florida Debate

During a televised presidential debate Thursday night, Republican candidates had the opportunity to question each other. Each candidate was allowed to ask one question.

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Several minutes later, Giuliani joked that perhaps Romney's overture reflected the fact that his GOP rivals no longer consider the former mayor's candidacy a threat after he finished well behind in the pack in every contest held so far. "When Mitt Romney asked me a question, he asked me a very nice question. I think I lulled him into a false sense of security," he said. Giuliani, who has staked his struggling candidacy on Florida but is running third in most polls, added later in the debate: "We're going to come from behind; we're going to win here in Florida."

McCain was just as accommodating as he queried Huckabee about his support of replacing the current tax code with a national sales tax. He asked the former governor how he would deflect criticism that a flat-out sales tax would "cause lower-income Americans more of the pain and the burden of paying for our government," and he took the opportunity to tack on a question about why Huckabee's proposal had resonated with the public.

"Well, the reason that it's getting resonance is because people would love to see the IRS abolished," Huckabee said. "I think most of us realize that there's got to be a better system. The one we have now is irreparably broken."

Paul was more assertive, asking whether McCain would retain the president's working group on financial markets. But that, too, did not lead to a fierce exchange, and neither did Huckabee's question for Romney about his position on gun rights, to which Romney replied: "I do support the right of individuals to bear arms."

In one of the debate's more awkward moments, Romney made an ambiguous comment about Bill Clinton when asked how he would run against the former president and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton if she wins the Democratic nomination.

"I frankly can't wait, because the idea of Bill Clinton back in the White House with nothing to do is something I just can't imagine. I can't imagine, the American people can't imagine, and I," he said, leading Russert to retort, "What does that mean?"

"I just think that we want to have a president, not a whole -- a team of husband and wife thinking that they're going to run the country," Romney said.

Later, Russert pressed Romney to disclose how much of his personal fortune he had poured into his campaign so Floridians could factor it into their voting decision. Romney replied that he will release that information on Jan. 31, as required by law, "and not a minute sooner," because that could give his rivals an advantage.

"I'm not worried about the voters. I'm much more concerned about the other guys on this stage," he said, adding that he wants to improve the country his children will "inherit." "I'm in this race because I want to help America."

Huckabee later quipped that he has a solution: He is willing to become president to ensure that Romney's sons inherit a better country, and that "your boys will still get your money, too."

McCain's 95-year-old mother, Roberta -- who has made several controversial statements during her son's presidential run -- became an unexpected topic of the debate.

McCain was asked about comments she made earlier in the day that members of his party would be "holding their nose while backing him." McCain laughed and said he has a "very, very conservative record."

With the exception of Paul, who said the Iraq war was "a very bad idea and it wasn't worth it," all of the candidates defended the decision to go to war but acknowledged that the conflict has been badly mismanaged.

Huckabee offered a new analogy to explain his belief that weapons of mass destruction may have been in Iraq before the war, saying: "Just because you don't find every Easter egg doesn't mean it wasn't planted."

Staff writer Perry Bacon Jr. contributed to this report.