Quotes From the Republican Debate
Friday, January 25, 2008; 12:55 AM
-- Some quotes from Thursday's Republican presidential debate in Boca Raton, Fla.
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MIKE HUCKABEE
_ On the Iraq war and President Bush: "I supported the president when he led us into this, as did the Democrats, and I think we owe him not a lot of scorn. We owe him our thanks that he had the courage to recognize there was a potential of weapons of mass destruction and rather than wait until we had another attack, he went and made sure that it wasn't going to happen from Saddam Hussein. Now, everybody can look back and say, 'Oh, well, we didn't find the weapons.' It doesn't mean they weren't there. Just because you didn't find every Easter egg didn't mean that it wasn't planted."
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MITT ROMNEY
_ When asked why he wouldn't tell voters how much of his own money he has spent on his campaign: "Well, I'm not concerned about the voters. I'm much more concerned about the other guys on this stage. And we have some competitive information we make sure that we use for our own benefit. But I can tell you this: I've raised more money than any other Republican in this race _ raised more. Friends of mine have come together, people I knew in high school and helped raised money for me. ... I can't imagine having gone to my friends and asked them to do what they've done, going out and raising money in my behalf, without saying I'm going to put some of my contribution behind this effort as well. Because frankly, I think it's important. And one thing is real clear: Given the contribution I made in this race, I know I owe no one anything. I don't have some group there that I have a special obligation to that raised money for me."
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RUDY GIULIANI
_On the Iraq war: "I was for it when six out of 10 were for it. I'm for it when six out of 10 are against it. I'm for it not because of polls, but because America is in a war, an Islamic terrorist war against us. America has succeed in Iraq and the goal in Iraq is an Iraq that's stable and an ally of the United States. And to be president of the United States, you have to be able to read polls, but you can't have them push you around."
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JOHN McCAIN
_ On the environment: "Climate change, in my view, is real. It can affect states like Florida dramatically, because I think it has to do with violent weather changes, as well. But I am confident _ I am confident American technology and the embrace of green technologies, many of the things that Rudy just talked about, and nuclear power being one of them, we can reduce these greenhouse gas emissions. And suppose that we are wrong, and there's no such thing as climate change, and we hand our kids a cleaner world. But suppose we are right and do nothing. I think that's a challenge for America. We can meet it."
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RON PAUL
_ When asked about other campaigns that say he hasn't stuck to the Republican Party and the possibility of a third-party movement hurting the GOP: "My biggest concern is they won't stick to the party principles that Republicans stood for, for so long. And you know, being conservative and balanced budgets, and limited government, and individual freedom, no, I have no intention of going into another party. I've been elected 10 times as a Republican. I was from a Republican family. And no, I don't plan to do that. I wish they would worry about it, you know, just in case. But, no, I have no intention of doing that, but it might keep them on their toes. But, no, I just think that the Republican Party has a problem because we don't act like Republicans."



