A retirada de Lula

A Fierce Clash for Romney and Perry as Republican Candidates Debate

LAS VEGAS— Mitt Romney came under intensive attack from his rivals for the Republican
presidential nomination at a debate here Tuesday night, with a newly assertive Rick Perry leading a sometimes personal barrage against him on
conservative consistency, health care policy and even the immigration status of
yard workers at his home

It was the most acrimonious debate so far this year. Marked by raised voices, accusations
of lying and acerbic and personal asides, it signaled the start of a tough new
phase of the primary campaign a little more than two months before the first
votes are cast.

Mr. Romney responded aggressively to the attacks and sometimes testily. Once, after Mr.
Perry spoke over him, he turned to the debate moderator, Anderson Cooper of
CNN, to plead, “Anderson?”

President Obama came in for some criticism, but it was almost entirely overshadowed as
the seven Republicans on stage spent most of their time challenging one
another. Most of the candidates faced questions on some of their biggest
vulnerabilities, including Herman Cain, who spent the debate’s opening moments
defending his 9-9-9 tax plan against nearly unanimous criticism from his fellow candidates.

But more than any other debate, this one was about Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts
governor. Previously, he had managed to parry attacks relatively easily. But he
had yet to face a barrage like the one he walked into on Tuesday.

It came at a time when the Romney campaign was seeking to present an air of inevitability
that he will be the nominee, while his rivals were seeking to exploit the sense
that his support is soft and that Republican primary voters continue to seek an
alternative.

The most striking difference from the last several debates was the performance of Mr.
Perry, the governor of Texas, whose candidacy has floundered after a series of
unsteady debate appearances. He displayed a much more combative style, if at
times appearing too heated and occasionally drawing jeers from some in the
Republican audience.

Striding onto the stage with an air of confidence, Mr. Perry seemed to relish
challenging Mr. Romney from his opening statement. He called himself “an
authentic conservative — not a conservative of convenience,” a swipe at Mr.
Romney, who has been criticized by some conservatives for changing positions on
issues like abortion.

It was the fifth time since Labor Day that the Republican candidates appeared together on
stage. The only one of the leading candidates not to participate was former
Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, who opted out in solidarity with New Hampshire
Republicans who are angry that Nevada moved its caucuses up in the voting
schedule, to Jan. 14.

There was plenty of acrimony to go around. Representative Ron Paul of Texas attacked Mr.
Cain, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota joined in, and former
Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania — seeking a chance to be a conservative
alternative to Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry — mixed it up with all of them.

In the debate’s final seconds, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, said
“maximizing bickering” was probably not the best way to win the White House.

But bicker they did, and sometimes more. In one heated moment, Mr. Romney turned to Mr.
Perry, who was standing beside him, and put his hand on Mr. Perry’s arm as they
spoke across one another.

Mr. Perry did not hesitate to make it personal, accusing Mr. Romney of having hired
illegal immigrants to work on the lawn of his Massachusetts home.

“Mitt, you lose all of your standing from my perspective because you hired illegals in
your home,” Mr. Perry said. “And you knew for — about it for a year.”

He went on, “And the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you’re
strong on immigration is, on its face, the height of hypocrisy.”

Mr. Romney at first sought to deflect Mr. Perry’s attack by giving a stage laugh and
saying: “Rick, I don’t think that I’ve ever hired an illegal in my life. And so
I’m — I’m looking forward to finding your facts on that.” Mr. Perry snapped
back, “It’s time for you to tell the truth.”

As the two continued to speak over each other and Mr. Perry kept pressing his attack, Mr.
Romney turned to his opponent and said sharply, “This has been a tough couple
of debates for Rick, and I understand that, and so you’re going to get — you’re
going to get testy.”

Mr. Perry’s eyes narrowed and he licked his lips, before yielding the floor to Mr.
Romney.

The exchange drew from a Boston Globe report in 2006
that found that illegal immigrants were among the members of a crew hired by a
company working on Mr. Romney’s lawn. A year later, the newspaper found that
the yard workers still

The Caucus | Las Vegas Debate Wrap-Up

A Fierce Clash for Romney and Perry as Republican Candidates Debate

Mr. Romney said he would seek to push an “e-verify” program to check the status of workers
if he became president, tartly noting that Mr. Perry had opposed such a plan.
As the subject continued to dominate the discussion, Mr. Romney said
Republicans should be welcoming of legal immigrants, a message likely to
resonate in Nevada, whose population is 27 percent Hispanic, according to census data.

As Mr. Romney’s agitation grew, he admonished his rival. “I suggest that if you want
to become president of the United States,” he said, “you have got to let both
people speak.”

It was Mr. Santorum who started the assault on Mr. Romney, turning the subject to Mr.
Romney’s health care plan. “Governor Romney,” Mr. Santorum said, “you don’t
have credibility when it comes to Obamacare.” The Massachusetts plan shares
several similarities with the new national health
care overhaul, including mandates that people buy
insurance.

“Your plan was the basis for Obamacare,” Mr. Santorum told Mr. Romney. “To say you’re
going to repeal it — you have no track record on that that we can trust you
that you’re going to do that.”

When Mr. Romney began to answer by repeating his contention that he never said he had
recommended the Massachusetts plan for the entire country, Mr. Santorum showed
his disagreement.

“You’re, you’re shaking, you’re shaking your head,” Mr. Romney said.

“Governor, no, that’s not what you said,” Mr. Santorum replied as the two talked over each
other and Mr. Romney finally said in exasperation: “I’ll tell you what? Why
don’t you let me speak?”

The debate also provided the first opportunity for the candidates to engage one another
directly on the controversy over religion that flared two weeks ago when a
Texas pastor and supporter of Mr. Perry suggested that Mr. Romney’s religion —
he is Mormon — is a cult. Mr. Perry was asked if he would repudiate the
remarks.

“I didn’t agree with it, Mitt, and I said so,” Mr. Perry said.

Mr. Romney said he was not troubled by the attacks on his faith. “I’ve heard worse,” he
said. But he said he was most troubled by the suggestion that people should be
chosen for office based on their religious faith.

“The founders of our country went to great lengths, and even put it in our
Constitution, that we would not choose people for public office based on their
religion,” he said, turning to Mr. Perry. “It was that principle that I wanted
you, governor, to say is wrong.”

The nearly two-hour debate offered a rolling and combative night of exchanges, which
highlighted the diverging views among Republicans over the Wall Street bailout,
military spending and aid to Israel.

Adam Nagourney contributed reporting.

A version of this article appeared in print on October 19, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Fierce Clash for Romney and Perry as Republican Candidates Debate.

A version of this article
appeared in print on October 19, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition with
the headline: A Fierce Clash for Romney and Perry as Republican Candidates
Debate.

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