GOP Rivals Sharpen Attacks at Second N.H. Debate

Charles Krupa/AP Photo

Just 10 hours after the GOP presidential candidates gave their final statements at the ABC/Yahoo/WMUR debate in New Hampshire Saturday night, they were back at it again this morning.

But while the candidates steered clear of directly attacking front-runner Mitt Romney - who has a 20 point lead in the latest NBC/Marist New Hampshire poll - last night, they came out swinging this morning.

A bitter Newt Gingrich, who dropped precipitously in the polls after Romney's Super PAC bombarded him with negative ads in Iowa, blasted Romney for running a decades-long campaign and using his frontrunner status to take more speaking time on the debate stage.

"I realize the red light doesn't mean anything to you because you're the front runner," Gingrich said at the NBC debate today. "But can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney?  The fact is you ran in '94 and lost. You've been running consistently for years and years and years."

Santorum continued Gingrich's barrage, charging that Romney "bail[ed] out" by not running for a second term as governor in Massachusetts.

"If his record was so great as governor of Massachusetts why didn't he run for reelection?" Santorum said. "If it was that great, why didn't you - why did you bail out?  I mean the bottom - the bottom line is - you know, I - I go and fight the fight."

But neither Santorum nor Gingrich kept their sights trained on Romney for long. Soon the debate devolved into a battle for second-place, allowing Romney to once again stay above the fray and stay almost entirely on-message.

Instead of hitting back at his Republican rivals, Romney took a general election tone, blasting President Obama for being "anti-investment, anti-jobs and anti-business."

Santorum continued to play offense against the men he is fighting for second place. He sharply criticized Ron Paul for being "unsuccessful at working with anyone on anything" during the three decades he has served in the House of Representatives.

"The serious issue with Congressman Paul is he has never passed anything of any import," Santorum said. "He's been out there on the margins."

Jon Huntsman chimed in on this attack with his campaign sending out a release that labeled Paul a "fringe candidate."