GOP debates signal a race between Romney and Perry
WASHINGTON -- After three debates in as many weeks, the Republican race for president has come into clearer focus.
The debates between Sept. 8 and Sept. 22 have taught the campaigns and voters four key things, political professionals and analysts say, that will shape the rest of the race: There remain clear differences among candidates on the future of Social Security and immigration; Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are dominating the field; and when it comes to running for president, experience matters.
"The debates are one of the few times candidates have an opportunity to really move the needle of public awareness and opinion," said Mark McKinnon, a campaign strategist for President George W. Bush. "Which is why they are so important."
The race has narrowed
The debates have bolstered what most polls of the Republican race have shown; it's a two-man race between Perry and Romney.
That was clear from their first debate together at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Sept. 8. There, the two candidates stood next to each in the middle of the eight candidates and immediately started sparring.
They have not stopped for three solid weeks.
A series of polls have shown the two competitors leading the pack. The most recent USA TODAY/Gallup poll has Perry up 31% to Romney's 24%.
The escalating tensions between Perry and Romney led another aspirant, former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, to make this observation during the most recentdebate Sept. 22: "You know, I'm tempted to say that, when all is said and done, the two guys standing in the middle here, Romney and Perry, aren't going to be around, because they're going to bludgeon each other to death."
Social Security
Perry's criticism of Social Security, both in campaign appearances and in his 2010 book Fed Up!, have made him a target of Romney and others. While Perry has moderated his position that the federal retirement program was a "Ponzi scheme" and a "failure," Romney and others have not slowed their criticisms.
In an interview last week with USA TODAY, Romney called Perry's approach "disconcerting."
"Given the fact that the book is so recently published and he reiterated his position with television interviews, I think his position is now cast in concrete," he said.
Romney, however, called Social Security a fraud in his book No Apology. "You've got governor Romney, who called it a fraud in his book … and then you've got governor Perry, who is calling this a Ponzi scheme," Huntsman said. They are "frightening the American people, who just want solutions. And this party isn't going to win in 2012 unless we get our act together and fix the problem."
The debate over Social Security comes at a time when voters have an "appetite for candidates who are being honest about the need for entitlement reform," said Phil Musser, a Republican consultant and top staffer for former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign.
"In my experience people are hungry for specific solutions, not platitudes," Musser said.
Immigration
As a border-state governor for more than 10 years, Perry has more experience on immigration than any of his opponents, but his support of a Texas law that allows children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state university tuition has opened him to attacks from his opponents.
Perry said critics of the Texas law don't "have a heart."
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