Pious baloney? Mandarin? What you missed at the GOP debates

NFL playoff games, church, dinners, jobs, dates, workouts, movies, birthday parties. The list of reasons why someone would have missed the oddly scheduled double-header of debates over the weekend (one was Saturday evening, the other early Sunday morning) is likely almost endless.

But if you took the occasion to, you know, actually have a life, you missed some of the most vicious infighting yet among the GOP presidential candidates ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

Here’s a look back at some of the debate highlights -- or lowlights, as the case may be:

Santorum questions Romney’s leadership

Representing the new order in the Republican race for president, the opening exchange of Saturday night’s debate saw Mitt Romney clashing with the surging Rick Santorum on the question of whose background best positioned them to lead the nation.

Romney, the national front-runner for the GOP nomination and a decided favorite ahead of Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary, opened the debate by attacking President Obama in response to a question about promising new jobs numbers.

“It’s very good news. I hope we continue to see good news. But it’s not thanks to President Obama,” the former Massachusetts governor said, adding that his policies have “made the recovery more tepid.”

“The president is going to try and take responsibility for things getting better. You know, it’s like the rooster taking responsibility for the sunrise,” Romney continued. “In fact, what he did was make things harder.”

Santorum was then asked about a recent talking point on the campaign trail, in which he argued that the nation needed a leader, not a “CEO” -- referring to Romney.

In fact, it was not the economy but Iran that was the most pressing issue facing the United States, Santorum argued.

“There’s no one with more experience in dealing with that country than I do,” he said after detailing his experience dealing with the issue as a U.S. senator.

“[Romney] says, ‘I’ve got business experience.’ Well business experience doesn’t necessarily match up with being commander in chief,” he said. “You’ve got to lead and inspire. That’s what I think the people in Iowa and New Hampshire were looking for. That’s the reason I think we’re doing well in the polls.” -- Michael A. Memoli

… and then his work at Bain Capital comes under fire

Taking a page from the playbook of Obama and his allies on the left, Romney’s rivals called into question the former governor’s record as CEO of a venture capital firm.

Asked to respond to an anti-Romney ad campaign that will be waged by a “super PAC” backing his candidacy, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich shied away from directly endorsing the ads – which scrutinize Romney’s record at Bain Capital – but delivered a pointed jab at the Bain business model.

“I’m not nearly enamored of a Wall Street model where you can flip companies, you can go in and have leveraged buyouts, you can basically take out all the money, leaving behind workers,” Gingrich said.

Pressed to explain a comment he made last month that Romney earned his fortune by “bankrupting companies and laying off workers,” Gingrich punted, referring instead to an article he erroneously attributed to the New York Times that detailed the history of one company that was taken over by Bain.

“Well, I”m not surprised to have the New York Times try to put free enterprise under trial,” Romney said. “I’m not surprised to have the Obama administration do that either. It’s a little surprising from my colleagues on this stage.”

Romney again repeated his claim that Bain created 100,000 jobs under his leadership. His math has been questioned in recent news reports – like this one from the Washington Post, which says the 100,000 figure “obviously does not include job losses from other companies with which Bain Capital was involved — and are based on current employment figures, not the period when Romney worked at Bain.” -- Kim Geiger

Gay marriage resurfaces as a campaign issue

Santorum’s new status in the top tier of the Republican race for president has also raised the profile of gay marriage as a major issue. Saturday, the candidates largely agreed in favoring a narrow definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

The first question posed to the candidates dealt with how same-sex couples should go about recognizing a committed, long-term relationship if marriage was not an option available to them.

Gingrich said marriage was a “sacrament” long recognized in history as being between a man and a woman.

“It is a huge jump from being understanding and considerate and concerned, which we should be, to saying we therefore are going to institute the sacrament of marriage as though it has no basis,” he said. “It’s something worth protecting.”

Santorum was asked what should happen to couples who have married in New Hampshire since it became state law. Santorum said marriage was a federal issue.

“We have to have one law. We can’t have someone married in one state and not married in another. Once we are successful in establishing that, then this issue becomes moot,” he said.

Romney said he’d support domestic partnership benefits for gay couples, but stopped short of gay marriage or even civil unions.

“To say that marriage is something other than the relationship between a man and a woman, I think, is a mistake,” he said. “The reason for that is not that we want to discriminate against people or to suggest that gay couples are not just as loving and can’t also raise children well. But it’s instead a recognition that, for society as a whole, that the nation presumably would be better off if children are raised in a setting where there’s a male and a female.”

Jon Huntsman Jr. broke with the field by stating his support for civil unions.

“On marriage, I’m a traditionalist. I think that ought to be saved for one man and one woman, but I believe that civil unions are fair. And I think it brings a level of dignity to relationships,” he said. -- Michael A. Memoli

Perry would send troops back into Iraq

As president, Rick Perry “would send troops back into Iraq,” the Texas governor declared during Saturday’s debate.

Blasting Obama for withdrawing American troops from the country, Perry said the decision has made Iraq vulnerable to infiltration from Iran.

“I think the idea that we allow the Iranians to come back into Iraq and take over that country, with all of the treasure, both in blood and money, that we have spent in Iraq because this president wants to kowtow to his liberal, leftist base and move out those men and women – he could have renegotiated that timeline,” Perry said. “I think it is a huge mistake.”

It was a bold statement from a candidate who is struggling to gain his footing in the upcoming primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina – a state with heavy interest in defense policy – after placing second-to-last among the remaining GOP contenders in the Iowa caucuses earlier this week.

“We’re going to see Iran, in my opinion, move back in at literally the speed of light,” Perry said. “They’re going to move back in and all the work that we’ve done, every young man that has lost his life in that country, will have been for nothing because we’ve got a president that does not understand what’s going on in that region.” -- Kim Geiger

Sunday sees a Romney pile-on

After front-runner Romney got off relatively unscathed in Saturday’s debate, Sunday morning’s rematch was another story entirely. Romney out of the gate was treated like a piñata by his rivals, who questioned everything from his record to his integrity.

The key to the pile-on was, unsurprisingly, Gingrich was asked by moderator David Gregory whether Romney was electable and should be the nominee. Gingrich, who has been nursing a grudge since a pro-Romney super PAC splattered his name all across Iowa, called Romney a “timid Massachusetts moderate.”

Gingrich said he, as a true “Reagan conservative,” would stand up better against President Obama’s mighty reelection machine than Romney.

Prompted by Gregory, Gingrich said, “I think he would have a very hard time getting elected.”

Romney said he was “very proud of the record I have. People saw I was a solid conservative and I brought important change to Massachusetts” by cutting taxes and balancing the budget.

But Santorum was also waiting to jump on Romney, asking him why he didn’t run for reelection after his first term in Massachusetts.

“If [your record] was that great, why did you bail out?” Santorum said. “We want someone when the times gets tough ... we want someone who stands up for conservative principles.”

Romney responded by saying that running for reelection would have been “about me” and that he wanted to return to the private sector.

“Are you going to tell people you aren’t going to run for reelection if you win?” Santorum interjected.

Gingrich labeled Romney’s answer “pious baloney” and said that had Romney not lost in 1994 in his Senate race to Ted Kennedy, he would have been the kind of career politician he often derides.

“Just level with the American people,” Gingrich said to applause. -- James Oliphant

Huntsman speaks Mandarin, defends work in Obama administration

Huntsman was still stinging from Saturday night’s debate when Gregory Sunday asked him which programs Huntsman would cut that would cause pain in this “age of austerity.”

Huntsman ignored the question and chose to re-litigate the moment from Saturday’s debate when Romney attacked him for serving a Democratic president as ambassador to China. The context is important, however. Saturday night, Huntsman provided one of the strangest moments of the debate when he spoke in Mandarin to criticize Romney. (Watch video below.)

The Twitterverse went crazy with that one, and perhaps Huntsman was stung by the reaction. So he took the opportunity Sunday to turn the tables on his front-runner nemesis, and played the patriot card.

“A lot of people are tuning in this morning and I am sure they are terribly confused after watching all this political spin up here,” said Huntsman. “I was criticized last night by Gov. Romney for putting my country first. I just want to remind the people here in New Hampshire and throughout the United States” -- and here, he was interrupted by applause -- “he criticized me while he was out raising money for serving my country in China, like my two sons who are in the United States Navy. They are not asking what the affiliation of the president is. I want to be clear, I will always put my country first. I think that’s important.”

Romney, however, was not about to back down, or apologize. And he went for the jugular against Huntsman, hitting him for something that has undermined his standing as a Republican with sterling conservative credentials.

“I just think most likely that the person who should represent our party running against President Obama is not someone who called him a ‘remarkable leader’ and went to be his ambassador in China.”

Huntsman drew a big round of applause when he replied: “This country is divided because of attitudes like that.” -- Robin Abcarian

Santorum calls Paul dangerous and ineffective

Long before his jump in the polls, Santorum stood out for his debate battles with Ron Paul. The two were back at Sunday, with Santorum branding the Texas congressman as an ineffective legislator that would make for a dangerous commander in chief.

“He’s never really passed anything of any import,” Santorum charged. “And one of the reasons people like Congressman Paul is his economic plan. He’s never been able to accomplish any of that. He has no track record of being able to work together. He’s been out there on the margins.”

He continued, “The problem with Congressman Paul is, all the things that Republicans like about him he can’t accomplish and all the things they’re worried about, he’ll do day one.

Paul responded by saying that the fact that so few of the bills have introduced in Congress have advanced “demonstrates how out of touch the U.S. government and the U.S. Congress is with the American people.”

And he defended what has been called an isolationist foreign policy.

“We can’t stay in 130 countries, get involved in nation-building. We cannot have 900 bases overseas. We have to change policy,” he said. -- Michael A. Memoli

Bad blood spills over between Gingrich, Romney

Tensions between Gingrich and Romney finally spilled onto the debate stage when the two mixed it up over ads slamming Gingrich aired by a pro-Romney super PAC that Gingrich has called on Romney to disavow.

Moderator Gregory ratcheted up the disagreement Sunday. He noted that a former Gingrich campaign spokesman had launched a pro-Gingrich super PAC and was preparing to launch an attack against Romney, calling him a “predator” for killing jobs when he led Bain Capital, the private equity firm that enriched him before he entered politics.

“You would have to say that Bain at times engaged in behavior where they looted a company, leaving behind 1,700 people,” said Gingrich.

“You have agreed with the characterization that Gov. Romney is a liar,” said Gregory. “Look at him now, do you stand by that claim?”

“Sure,” replied Gingrich, not missing a beat.

However, Gingrich handed Romney an opening to repeat charges against him that were hammered home in the negative ads.

“Governor,” Gingrich told Romney, “I wish you would calmly and clearly state that it is your former staff running the PAC, it is your millionaire friends giving to the PAC, and you know some of the ads are untrue. Just say that straightforward.”

Romney, unfazed: “Of course it’s former people of mine. Of course it’s people who support me. They wouldn’t be putting money into a PAC that supports me if they weren’t people who support me,” he said.

Then, Romney seemed to contradict himself:

“And as regards to their ads,” he said, “I haven’t seen ‘em.”

Yet, seconds later, he added, “But let me tell you this, the ad I saw [emphasis ours] said you were forced out of the speakership. That was correct. It said that you sat down with Nancy Pelosi and argued for a climate change bill. That was correct. It said that you called Paul Ryan’s plan to provide Medicare reform a right wing social engineering plan. It said that as part of an ethics investigation, that you had to reimburse some $300,000 dollars …. ”

The Romney campaign said later Sunday that the candidate had meant that he had not seen all the super PAC ads that are currently running. “There are countless ads airing in all of the states. Gov. Romney has not seen all of the ads, but he discussed one in particular that he had seen,” said spokeswoman Andrea Saul. -- Robin Abcarian

Santorum warns of Iranian ‘theocracy’

Santorum loves to push back against those who call him a “warmonger,” but Sunday, he showed exactly what has some voters concerned about his hard-line stance against Iran.

Gregory noted that the United States has lived with a nuclear Soviet Union and a nuclear North Korea. “Why is it we cannot not live with a nuclear Iran?” he asked. “And if not, are you prepared to take the country to war to disarm that country?”

Iran, said Santorum “is a “theocracy that has deeply embedded beliefs that the afterlife is better than this life .… When your principal virtue is to die for Allah, then it’s not a deterrent to have a nuclear threat .… It is in fact an encouragement for them to use their nuclear weapon.”

Santorum did not address the question of whether he would take the country to war to prevent Iran from going nuclear.

“What about Pakistan?” said Gregory.“They are not a theocracy and we are hopeful of maintaining a more secular state,” Santorum replied. “But there is a serious threat and this administration has bungled it as badly as they can.” -- Robin Abcarian

Here’s Huntsman’s Mandarin moment: