GOP Debate Pits McCain Against Romney; Campaigning Delays Stimulus Bill

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN Anchor: But I'll start with Governor Romney.

KWAME HOLMAN: Mitt Romney and John McCain continued the sharp exchanges that have characterized the campaign in recent days, Romney questioning McCain's conservative credentials...

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), Massachusetts: He voted twice against the Bush tax cuts. Only two Republicans did that. He is a co-author of McCain-Feingold, which I think took a whack at the First Amendment and I do believe, as well, hurt our party pretty significantly.

And so those views are outside the mainstream of Republican conservative thought. And I guess I'd also note that if you get endorsed by the New York Times, you're probably not a conservative.

ANDERSON COOPER: Senator McCain?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), Arizona: Let me note that I was endorsed by your two hometown newspapers who know you best, including the very conservative Boston Herald...

MITT ROMNEY: I'd say the same thing.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: ... who know you well better than anybody. So I'll guarantee the Arizona Republic will be endorsing me, my friend.

KWAME HOLMAN: Mike Huckabee jumped in when he could.

FORMER GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE (R), Arkansas: And I want to make sure everybody understands: This isn't a two-man race. There's another guy who'd like to say down here on the far right of the stage. You want to talk conservative credentials? Let me get in on that.

I believe in less government. I believe in lower taxes, not higher.

JANET HOOK, Los Angeles Times: Senator McCain has said over and over again that you supported a timetable for phased withdrawal from Iraq. Is that true?

MITT ROMNEY: I do not support that, never have. And Senator McCain pointed to an interview I had back in April with ABC, when I said that our president and their prime minister should have timetables and milestones.

We have timetables and milestones for progress that we're making together. But I never suggested a date specific to withdraw.

And, actually, she asked me a question. The next question was, "If Congress were to give you a date specific for withdrawal, would you sign it or veto it?" I said I'd veto it.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: The right answer to that question was "no," not what you said, and that was we don't want to have them lay in the weeds until we leave, and Maliki and the president should enter into some kind of agreement for, quote, "timetables." "Timetables" was the buzzword for withdrawal.

MITT ROMNEY: Why don't you use the whole quote, Senator? Why don't you use the whole quote? Why do you insist on...

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: I'm using the whole quote, where you said "I won't"...

MITT ROMNEY: Why do you insist on not using the actual quote? That's not what I said.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: The actual quote is, "We don't want them to lay in the weeds until we leave." That is the actual quote. And I'm sure...

MITT ROMNEY: What does that mean?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: ... fact-checkers...

MITT ROMNEY: What does that mean?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: It means a timetable until we leave.

MITT ROMNEY: Listen, Senator, let's...

ANDERSON COOPER: Let me jump in, because the quote that I have...

MITT ROMNEY: Is it not fair, is it not fair to have the person who's being accused of having a position he doesn't have be the expert on what his position is? How is it that you're the expert on my position, when my position has been very clear?

KWAME HOLMAN: Ron Paul saw an opening and scolded both candidates.

REP. RON PAUL (R), Texas: ... when I listen to this argument, I mean, I find it rather silly, because they're arguing technicalities of a policy they both agree with. They agreed with going in; they agreed for staying. Agreed for staying how many years?

And these are technicalities. We should be debating foreign policy, whether we should have interventionism or non-interventionism, whether we should be defending this country or whether we should be the policemen of the world, whether we should be, you know, running our empire or not, and how are going to have guns and butter?

ANDERSON COOPER: Tonight, in terms of the economy, are Americans better off than they were eight years ago?

MITT ROMNEY: Whether there's a recession technically or not, one thing we know: Middle-income families are feeling squeezed. And people are losing homes. And people are having a hard time paying for their gasoline. And they're having a hard time paying for heating oil in places that that's a big part of their life.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: ... we are better off overall, if you look at the entire eight-year period, when you look at the millions of jobs that have been created, the improvement in the economy, et cetera.

But I'm trying to emphasize, Anderson, that we are in a very serious challenge right now, with a lot of Americans very uncertain about their future, and we've got to give them some comfort.

We've got to give them some stimulus. We've got to give them some tax relief. We've got to stop this outrageous, squandering spending that causes us to have to borrow money from China. And we've got to get our fiscal house in order.

MIKE HUCKABEE: I think what Americans are looking for is somebody to be just honest with them and straight with them and tell them that, "No, it's not better, and it's not going to get better unless we have some serious leadership in Washington that says that we're going to have to start having policies that touch the people not just at the top, but the people at the bottom."

KWAME HOLMAN: Polls show the economy to be the No. 1 concern of voters heading into Super Tuesday's primaries and caucuses.