ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Republican presidential rivals Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney scornfully debated immigration Wednesday in a provocative CNN/YouTube debate just over a month before the first votes are cast.
Giuliani, the front-runner in national polls, accused Romney of employing illegal immigrants at his home and running a “sanctuary mansion.” The testy personal exchange came after Romney said Giuliani had retained New York’s status as a sanctuary city while he was mayor.
Romney said it would “not be American” to check the papers of workers employed by a contractor simply because they have a “funny accent.” He had landscapers at his Belmont, Mass., home who turned out to be in the country illegally.
Giuliani shot back, calling Romney’s attitude “holier than thou.”
“Mitt usually criticizes people when he usually has the far worse record,” Giuliani said.
The audience, however, booed Giuliani as he tried to persist in his criticism of Romney.
The confrontation came at the start of an innovative CNN/YouTube debate that forced the candidates to confront immigration immediately, signaling the volatility of the issue among Republican voters. The eight Republican candidates encountered a range of questions, including abortion, gun control from a gun wielding NRA member, and farm subsidies from a man eating an ear of corn.
They were even asked if they believed every word in the Bible by a man holding the holy book, and a question on the powers of the vice president from a gun-toting cartoon-version of Dick Cheney.
At the outset, immigration dominated the questions submitted online and swept in the remainder of the Republican field.
Fred Thompson took the opportunity to distinguish himself from Romney and Giuliani, arguing that Romney had supported President Bush’s plan to provide a path to citizenship for some immigrants now in the United States illegally. He took Giuliani to task for attacking Romney’s employment of illegal immigrants.
“I think we’ve all had people who we’ve hired who in retrospect was a bad decision,” he said.
Sen. John McCain, for whom the immigration issue has proved particularly vexing, defended his support for an unsuccessful overhaul of immigration laws that included a temporary worker program and a path to citizenship.
“We must recognize these are God’s children as well,” McCain said. “They need our love and compassion, and I want to ensure that I will enforce the borders first. But we won’t demagogue it.”
Mike Huckabee, who has also come under GOP criticism for some of his immigration policies while governor of Arkansas, defended benefits he supported for children of illegal immigrants, including allowing children to be eligible to apply for college scholarships.
“Are we going to say kids who are here illegally are going to get a special deal?” Romney asked.
Huckabee objected, saying the benefit was based on merit. “We are a better country than to punish children for what their parents did,” he said.
The most fierce exchanges were among the candidates with the most at stake with only five weeks left before the first voting in the presidential contest begins. Giuliani leads in national polls but trails Romney in early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire. Romney faces challenges from Huckabee in Iowa and from Giuliani and McCain in New Hampshire.
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