Republican Debate Centers Around Obama, Sparks Bachmann and Pawlenty Feud
The first GOP debate in two months took place in Iowa on Thursday and aside from the prevalent Barack Obama insults uttered by the presidential hopefuls, a large portion of the night seemed to center around Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty questioning the capabilities of one another.
Pawlenty, 50-year-old former governor of Minnesota, was questioned about negative statements that he made concerning Bachmann, Minnesota representative of the House of Representatives prior to the debate. During the war of words that took place on Thursday, Pawlenty said Bachmann is little more than a titanium spine.
“She’s got a record of misstating and making false statements,” Pawlenty said about Bachmann. “She said she’s got a titanium spine. It’s not her spine we’re worried about; it’s her record of results.”
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In turn Bachmann, 55, questioned Pawlenty’s support of a health insurance measure backed by the current president.
“That sounds a lot more like Barack Obama, if you ask me,” Bachmann said of Pawlenty’s position on healthcare. “During my time in the United State Congress, I have fought all of these unconstitutional measures and Barack Obama.”
Aside from Bachmann’s comparison of Pawlenty and Obama, the president received a wealth of criticism from other candidates at the debate. Pawlenty said the president had yet to offer details about his plans for Social Security, Medicare and like programs.
“I’ll offer a prize tonight to anybody in this auditorium or anyone watching on television, if you can find Barack Obama’s specific plan on any of those items, I will come to your house and cook you dinner,” Pawlenty said. “Or if you prefer, I’ll come to your house and mow your lawn. But in case Mitt wins, I’ll limit it to one acre.”
Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, criticized the way Obama handled the debt ceiling crisis, calling the deal dog food.
"I'm not going to eat Barack Obama's dog food, all right,” Romney said during the debate. “What he served up was not what I would have done if I'd had been president of the United States."
All candidates seemed to agree that Obama was not the best president for the country. Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah, vocalized his thoughts on Obama failing to do an adequate job as president.
"The people in this nation know that President Obama has had two-and-a-half years to get it right on the most important issue we face, expanding the economy and creating jobs," Huntsman said. "He's fundamentally failed us."
