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MIAMI: Republican presidential hopefuls heading to a key Florida
primary put on a show of civility Thursday during a debate that
contrasted with the bitter squabbling between Democratic
frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
The four leading Republican candidates all
expressed support for the Iraq war, called for deeper tax cuts and
even exchanged compliments, keeping their sharpest barbs for Senator
Clinton.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and
Senator John McCain, who lead the Republican field, both lashed out
at the former first lady’s stance on the Iraq war.
Americans “don’t want us to raise the white
flag of surrender like Senator Clinton does,” McCain said during
the 90-minute debate in Boca Raton, Florida. “They know they can
win.”
Romney also called for increasing the size of
the US armed forces by 100,000 troops to about 1.6 million.
The debate was seen as a crucial test ahead of
Tuesday’s Florida primary, considered pivotal for the Republicans
because it delivers 57 delegates to the national assembly that will
nominate the party’s presidential candidate.
The race is seen as a make-or-break test for
former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who has staked his all on
the state’s primary but has seen support erode rapidly as his
rivals picked up victories in smaller states.
Giuliani dismissed speculation the Florida
primary would sound the death knell for his campaign.
A voter intention poll out Thursday indicated
Romney and McCain were running neck-and-neck in the Florida race.
The Mason-Dixon poll, conducted for a group of
Florida newspapers, had Romney taking 30 percent and McCain 26
percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage
points.
Giuliani was in third place with 18 percent of
likely voters and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had 13
percent.
Buoyed by recent victories in South Carolina and
Louisiana, McCain has picked up a crop of endorsements, including
one from General Norman Schwarzkopf, who led allied forces in the
1991 Gulf War, and another from Rambo actor Sylvester Stallone.
McCain’s status as a Vietnam War hero could
help him in Florida, a state that is home to many war veterans and
military bases.
Romney, for his part, has focused on his
economic credentials at a time when many Americans fear the country
could be headed toward recession.
On the Democratic side, the candidates stayed
away from Florida where their primary will not count because it is
being held earlier than allowed under national party rules.
Clinton and Obama, a senator for Illinois, were
campaigning hard in South Carolina, which holds a Democratic primary
on Saturday.
Obama is leading by double digits in South
Carolina, with a Zogby poll on Thursday giving him 39 percent, with
Clinton getting 24 percent. John Edwards is running third with 19
percent.
But Clinton got a strong boost from the New York
Times, which gave her a glowing endorsement.
“Hearing her talk about the presidency, her
policies and answers for America’s big problems, we are hugely
impressed by the depth of her knowledge, by the force of her
intellect and by the breadth of, yes, her experience,” the paper
said.
-- AFP
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