Political India: Engaging America

Even as the sweltering summer of Obama-bashing wore thin in the ongoing Republican nomination debates, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney slugged it out in the latest debate in Las Vegas this week and it descended into an ugly brawl.

The softer, Obama-targeting tone of the debate all but disappeared when the two frontrunners confronted each other on the core issue of illegal immigration. The exchange of barbs became personal at one point when Mr. Perry accused Mr. Romney of hiring illegal aliens to work in his yard.

In a sharp attack Mr. Perry said, “Mitt, you lose all of your standing from my perspective because you hired illegals in your home and you knew about it for a year.” He added that the idea of Mr. Romney standing here and claiming that he was strong on immigration is “the height of hypocrisy”.

Though Mr. Romney initially tried to remain calm about the accusation, he lost his cool after further remarks from his critic and said, “This has been a tough couple of debates for Rick, and I understand that, and so you're going to get testy.”

Apart from the two sparring Governors, another potential candidate who was forced onto the back foot was Herman Cain, former CEO of the Godfather Pizza Company. He was roundly slammed for his so-called 9-9-9 plan proposing nine per cent income, corporate and sales taxes as a means to circumvent the complexities of the tax code.

Starting with Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, who was followed by Mr. Perry and others, virtually every candidate decried Mr. Cain's plan as one that would ultimately result in higher taxes for ordinary Americans and businesses.

While previous rounds of debate at Iowa, Florida, New Hampshire and South Carolina had the net effect of putting Mr. Romney near the top of the polls Mr. Perry's ratings had recently flagged after what was described as a poor showing in several debates.

The latest round in Nevada however was a visceral attack on Mr. Romney by all the candidates, who possibly view his lead in the polls as dangerous to their individual prospects.

The caucuses and primaries, through which the Republican nominee will finally be selected, will kick off in either December 2011 or in early January 2012, and New Hampshire will likely be the first venue. The Presidential election is on November 6 2012.

Labels: Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, U.S. politics