Republican Candidates Clash in Pivotal Iowa Debate

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 10, 2011— -- With the Iowa caucuses looming, six Republican presidential candidates clashed tonight over their conservative credentials and personal histories in a Des Moines debate that saw resurgent frontrunner Newt Gingrich battling attacks by his rivals from all sides.

But it was Mitt Romney who stole the spotlight for a $10,000 bet with Texas Gov. Rick Perry over what he wrote about the individual health insurance mandate -- then removed -- in subsequent editions of his book, "No Apologies."

"I read your first book and it said in there that your mandate in Massachusetts should be the model for the country. And I know it came out of the reprint of the book," Perry said. "But, you know, I'm just sayin', you were for individual mandates, my friend."

Romney disputed the claim, challenging Perry to a $10,000 bet over who was right.

"I have not said, in that book, first edition or the latest edition, anything about our plan being a national model imposed on the nation," Romney said.

"I'm not in the betting business, but I'll show you the book," Perry replied.

In the first version of Romney's book, a line referring to a universal health care mandate reads: "We can accomplish the same thing for everyone in the country, and it can be done without letting government take over health care."

In the later paperback version, the line was changed to: "And it was done without the government taking over health care."

While the comparison seems to vindicate Romney, the high-dollar bet -- creating the appearance of financial excess in down economic times -- could tarnish his image, strategists said. And it immediately drew an onslaught of attacks from his rivals on both sides of the political spectrum.

"Mitt Romney probably had $10,000 in his pocket," Perry spokesman Mark Miner said after the debate.

"Mitt Romney is going to rue the day he offered a $10,000 bet in this debate," a senior Democratic strategist wrote in an email. "Talk about a window into his out-of-touch soul."

In the post-debate spin room, Romney aides said the former Massachusetts governor stands by the comment: "Romney made that bet because he knew Rick Perry wouldn't take it," strategist Eric Fehrnstrom said.

The debate, sponsored by ABC News, Yahoo! News, WOI-TV, The Des Moines Register and the Iowa Republican Party at Drake University, came just 24 days before the first GOP voters will reveal their preference for presidential nominee in caucus meetings on Jan. 3 and as Gingrich has surged ahead of Romney in several early state polls.

Romney wasted little time going after the former House speaker, accusing him of being a "career politician" with unusual -- at times liberal -- ideas.

"We can start with his idea...to have a lunar colony that would mine minerals from the moon... He said that he would like to eliminate in some cases the child labor laws so that kids could clean schools... His plan in capital gains, to remove capital gains for people at the very highest level of income," Romney said.

"But our real difference, I believe, is our backgrounds. I spent my life in the private sector," Romney said, turning to blast Gingrich as a Washington insider.

Gingrich retorted, "The only reason you didn't become a career politician is because you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994."

But Romney didn't back down.

"If I had been able to get in the NFL as a kid, I would have been a football star, too. But I spent my life in the private sector. We don't need folks who are lifetime Washington people to get this country out of the mess it's in -- we need people outside Washington, outside K street," he said, jabbing at Gingrich's experience.

The exchange opened the floodgates for attacks on the frontrunner Gingrich, with Rep. Ron Paul accusing him of being a flip-flopper and Rep. Michele Bachmann asserting that his office was located on "the Rodeo Drive of Washington, D.C., K Street" -- a street lined with lobbyists' offices.

But Bachmann, Paul, Perry, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum didn't save their fire for Gingrich alone. The contenders also hammered Romney for his shifting positions, including past support for an individual health care mandate, cap-and-trade legislation and lenient policies on illegal immigration.

Introducing a new tag line for the two top-tier candidates, Bachmann lumped them together as "Newt Romney," particularly for their mutual support of what their critics called Democratic ideas for health care reform -- charges Gingrich vehemently denied.

"I fought against 'Obamacare' every step of the way. I think it's important for you -- and this is a fair game. It's important for you to be accurate when you say those things. I did no lobbying," Gingrich told Bachmann.

But the congresswoman wasn't having it, coming back with another attack.

"This is such an important issue. We have one shot. Do we honestly believe two men who stood on this stage and defended 'Romneycare' and an individual mandate. Are they honestly going to get rid of it in 2012?" Bachmann said. "It's going to be a very heavy lift."

The debate -- the 12th for the Republican candidates this year -- comes at a crucial moment for second-tier candidates like Bachmann as they gun to knock Gingrich from the lead.

Gingrich leads the pack with 33 percent support among likely caucus goers in Iowa, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll. Romney and Paul are trailing in Iowa at 18 percent each.

The former House speaker also holds impressive leads in two other key early states -- South Carolina and Florida -- with 23 percent support among likely GOP primary voters, according to the most recent CNN-Time magazine polls.

He is also positioned well in hypothetical 2012 match-ups with President Obama in swing states Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, new Quinnipiac University polls found.