Romney And Giuliani Turn Negative In N.H.

Washington Post: GOP Rivals Go On Attack As Giuliani Tries To Chip Away At Romney's Lead

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Dan Balz.

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With Rudolph W. Giuliani looking to spring a surprise against Mitt Romney in the state hosting the nation's first primary, the race for the Republican presidential nomination took a sharply negative turn here Sunday as the two candidates traded accusations about taxes, crime, immigration, abortion and ethical standards.

The rhetorical volleys underscored the growing stakes here in New Hampshire, where Romney leads in the polls but Giuliani now believes he has a chance to derail the former Massachusetts governor's campaign before it can build the kind of momentum that could make him unstoppable.

Leading in national polls, Giuliani had long appeared to be playing down the importance of early-voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire in favor of the bigger states that hold their contests in late January and early February. But he said in an interview Saturday that he intends to win here. "We think we can catch him and get ahead of him," he said of Romney.

Romney responded by tweaking the former New York mayor, saying Giuliani sounded increasingly worried about losing the nomination. "He's not in the top three in Iowa, and he's not in the first two in New Hampshire, so desperate times for Mayor Giuliani call for desperate efforts," he said before leaving Concord for campaign events in western New Hampshire.

Romney dramatically escalated the attacks Sunday with a salvo at Giuliani, who had earlier criticized him over a judicial appointee who had overruled a lower court and ordered the release of a convicted killer, who has since been charged with another killing. Romney has called on the judge to resign. With his wife, Ann, and other members of his family at his side, he said it is essential for Republicans to pick a nominee "who can distinguish himself on family values" from the Democratic front-runner, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).

He then proceeded to link Giuliani to Clinton on abortion, gay rights and immigration, and ended with tough words for the former mayor's support for former New York police commissioner Bernard B. Kerik to be secretary of homeland security. Kerik, a longtime friend and confidant of Giuliani's, was recently indicted on multiple corruption charges.

"I believe it's important for someone to be pro-life, to be pro-family and pro-traditional marriage, to be in favor of legal immigration but against illegal immigration and to have a record of insisting on the highest ethical standards, and I'm afraid that on all four of those measures that Mayor Giuliani would be the wrong course for our party," Romney said. "He is in the same position as Hillary Clinton on life and on marriage and on the ethical history of his administration, and also on sanctuary cities and immigration policy."

Giuliani's weekend assault on Romney went well beyond the matter of a controversial judicial appointment. During an interview aboard his campaign bus on Saturday, Giuliani belittled Romney's claims to be a committed conservative and accused his rival of turning his back on his "one" notable accomplishment: expanding health care to cover all citizens of his state.

"When you look back on Romney's governorship of Massachusetts, there's only one accomplishment, and he's running away from that," Giuliani said as the bus rolled through New Hampshire.

"I don't see where he's going to make the claim to being particularly conservative as the governor of Massachusetts," Giuliani said. "I can certainly make the claim quite accurately at being the most successful at reducing crime of any mayor in the country, probably in history."

With former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee gaining in Iowa, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) clinging to some of the support he enjoyed in New Hampshire when he won here eight years ago, and former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) increasingly on the attack, the Republican race has taken on the feel of a five-ring circus.

[gunnerv1]

It''s going to turn into one giant "hug fest" before it''s over.

[antoniof123]

One other thing Bill Clinton is one of the most popular Presidents in American history and George Bush is one of the least popular Presidents in American history.

That is how the majority of Americans feel about your loser boy so please save it for someone who cares.

The days of people just sitting and taking your rhetoric are over.

[antoniof123]

Let''''s see here: Clintoon PROVEN LIAR, Bush jr alleged liar...but like most Bush haters, you see the glass half empty...!

Posted by badaxmofo at 05:10 PM : Nov 27, 2007

George Bush is a proven liar. He stated that had Saddam cooperated with us that we would not have attacked, also the Italian letter the administration knew it was fake. But what are facts. Lets start with the first one.

1) The first statement would come as a uprise to the UN and the rest of the world. They had inspectors in Iraq 3 days until his lying but bombed Iraq back to the beginning of time. Lie to the American people worst then a BJ that you had no right to know about.
2) The Italian letter was proven to be false and was used to convince the American people that yellow cake was sought after. Once again a lie to the American people not a BJ but a lie which cost lives not just American but others that would not have died.

You can not spin your way out of the truth either accept it or just go away.

The list of lies just keeps growing with each day as more information comes to light.

[my2centss]

There is no doubt which party CBS and The Washington Post support in this election. After all these articles on here today. Whatever happened to equal coverage?

[valendug]

hey badax, another driveby at your house again today?

[valendug]

Doprah will cost Obama more white votes than she will gain black votes for him.

[flreason]

Posted by geezer62...Thanks for the compliment. Intelligent conversation, whether spoken or written, sometimes seems like a dying art. I defer to Robert Frost''s "A Considerable Speck," (last stanza):

I have a mind myself and recognize
Mind when I meet with it in any guise
No one can know how glad I am to find
On any sheet the least display of mind.

Now if we could only find more evidence of it in government and business leaders...

[geezer62]

badaxmofo...
You are amazing. How can you refer to Bush as an "alleged liar"? The list of proven lies is as long as your arm. Don''t you read at all? And I hate to bust your bubble but I don''t hate anybody...not even you. I just get a little pi**ed when someone doesn''t have the cohones to post ALL the truth. I guess you learned this from your hero, Rush. Actually I don''t hate Bush, I just look at his record and think he has really mucked things up. It is your right to vote for whomever you feel can do the best job so let''s go to the polls and see what happens when the smoke clears. Best to you buddy.

[gunownerdan]

erasmus6,
Ron Paul did not vote for the Iraq war, but he did support the war in Afghanistan which was justified.
The Clintons and the Bushes profit a great deal from war because of all their corporate partners.
ronpaul2008.com

[geezer62]

badaxmofo...
It''s comforting to know that George Bush NEVER lied. If he had there is a good possibility that 4000 men and women would be dead and another 40000 would be maimed for life. However, that oval office BJ was deadly, wasn''t it? Come on pal, be honest. If you got a hummer and got caught the first thing you would tell your wife is, "I did not have s*x with that woman." That''s my story and I''m stickin to it.