Republican US presidential hopefuls attacked former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s record in business and government on Monday and challenged him to release his tax returns, but the front--runner emerged largely unscathed from a South Carolina debate.
Republican nomination rivals Newt Gingrich, Texas Governor Rick Perry and Rick Santorum questioned Romney’s accomplishments and urged voters to take a critical look at Romney as they tried to halt his growing momentum in the race to pick a challenger to US President Barack Obama.
“We need to satisfy the country that whoever we nominate has a record that can stand up to Barack Obama in a very effective way,” said Gingrich, the former US House of Representatives speaker, defending his questions about Romney’s work at a private equity firm that critics say slashed jobs and plundered companies.
“There was a pattern in some companies, a handful of them, of leaving them with enormous debt and then within a year or two or three having them go broke. I think that is something he ought to answer,” Gingrich said.
Romney’s firm, Bain Capital, has become a flashpoint in the race in recent weeks, although the candidates have eased off their criticism on the campaign trail at the urging of some Republicans.
Romney defended his record at Bain, saying he invested in more than 100 businesses and had a mixed, but overall successful record of job creation.
“If people want to have someone who understands how the economy works, having worked in the real economy, then I’m the guy who can best post up against Barack Obama,” Romney said.
Just hours before the debate, former Utah governor Jon Huntsman dropped out of the Republican race and endorsed Romney, bolstering his drive for his party’s nomination. Romney won the first two state nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire this month.
Romney leads polls in South Carolina, and a win there on Saturday would put him on an almost certain path to clinching the nomination to face Obama in November.
The candidates will get another crack at Romney at a debate in Charleston tomorrow, less than 48 hours before South Carolina Republicans start voting.
Perry challenged Romney during the nearly two-hour debate to release his tax returns. Perry and Gingrich have been raising the issue on the campaign trail in the past few days.
“I hope you’ll put your tax records out there this week so the people of South Carolina can take a look and decide if, you know, we’ve got a flawed candidate or not,” Perry told Romney.
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