MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney came out firing Sunday night in the last GOP forum before a likely make-or-break primary for him, taking shots at rivals who ganged up on him in a debate the night before.
But while the other four leading contenders for the GOP presidential nomination traded jabs with him and one another, they spent more time making their closing arguments, reverting to talking points to try to win this state’s still-undecided voters by Tuesday.
The stakes are highest for Romney, since he banked on winning Iowa and New Hampshire, and it showed in his aggressive posture in the 90-minute forum at St. Anselm College, run by Fox News with no audience.
Romney aimed his attack mainly at his two chief rivals: Mike Huckabee, who defeated him in Iowa last week, and John McCain, who polls show is leading in New Hampshire. He accused McCain of not supporting tax cuts and Huckabee of raising taxes.
“You know, Mike, you make up facts faster than you talk, and that’s saying something. So let’s slow it down, and let’s get the facts correctly,” Romney said. “Now, I asked you a question to begin with. And that was, net-net, did you raise taxes in your state by half a billion dollars?”
Huckabee answered, “We raised jobs; we built our roads.”
Romney shot back, “You know, that’s political speak.”
Huckabee retorted, “You know, Mitt, you spent tens of millions of dollars saying all negative things about me. If someone raises a question, you say it’s a personal attack.”
Challenged by moderator Chris Wallace about raising fees while governor of Massachusetts, Romney seized the opportunity to attack McCain for voting against President Bush’s tax cuts.
“Sen. McCain was one of two Republicans who voted against the Bush tax cuts,” said Romney, reiterating a line of attack he has used over the past few weeks in New Hampshire, where fiscal issues are paramount.
Romney also criticized McCain once again over his including “amnesty” for illegal immigrants in his immigration legislation.
McCain replied, “Look, we all know the debate has gone on about who wants, quote, ‘amnesty,’ and, of course, I have never, ever supported amnesty and never will.”
Romney defended his ads when asked about them by Wallace, saying they described his rivals’ records.
“If people think their record or their positions is an attack ad, that’s a strange thing,” he said.
But Huckabee said, “If you tell a half-truth as if it is the full truth, then it can become an untruth.”
McCain, who touted himself as the “change agent,” chiefly for advocating the military surge in Iraq, made a stunning promise: “And Osama bin Laden, I know how to get him, and I will get him.”
When Wallace asked him how, McCain said with “human intelligence” across all agencies.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani stuck to his talking points, even ducking a question on the so- called Fair Tax, which levies a 23 percent sales tax.
Wallace asked him if he had too much “baggage,” particularly involving his former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, now indicted on corruption charges.
Giuliani said every candidate had made mistakes.
“I’ve made my share of mistakes. When I do, I own up to them, I learn from them and I don’t make them again,” he said.
Ron Paul was excluded from the forum, leading the Republican National Party to pull its sponsorship.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
