High Points in Wednesday's Down and Dirty Debate

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. -- Republican candidates took to attacking each other over decidedly serious issues during last night's CNN/Youtube debate, clashing over tough questions on torture, immigration and gun control. The debates mark several shifts in the Republican race for the nomination. Most notably, the presidential hopefuls focused more of their rhetoric on each other, rather than Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.

The debate began on a bitter note as Rudy Giuliani (R-N.Y.) loudly attacked his main competitor, Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), over unknowingly employing undocumented immigrants in his own home. Although their tense debate set the tone for the evening, it was Giuliani's most assertive moment. He leads Romney by 21 points in Florida and is ahead in most national polls, but the former mayor took a decidedly subdued role in the debates -- perhaps to let the other candidates argue amongst themselves.

As the debate shifted to Huckabee's support of tuition breaks for the children of undocumented immigrants, Romney took the offensive, most likely in an attempt to regain the ground he lost during Giuliani's allegations.

Although the tuition bill did not pass in Arkansas, Romney, who faces serious competition from Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) in Iowa, asserted, "It reminds me of what it's like talking to liberals in Massachusetts, alright? They have great reasons for taking taxpayer money and using it for things they think are the right thing to do. Mike, that's not your money. That's the taxpayer's money."

A series of questions about the budget led both John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Giuliani to evoke Ronald Reagan, McCain stating that he would veto pork barrel bills with the "veto pen" that Ronald Reagan gave him, and Giuliani stating that we must have broad spending cuts "the way Ronald Reagan did."

All candidates agreed that Social Security and/or Medicare needed some sort of reform to avert a budget crisis, but only Ron Paul (R-Texas) mentioned the U.S.' ever-growing military budget. Huckabee took the moment to promote the controversial FairTax plan, calling the IRS a "$10-billion-a-year industry" that accounted for most of the budget problems.

Shortly afterwards, a question regarding Giuliani's 2000 statement that "anyone wanting to own a gun should have to pass a written exam" cornered the front-runner into defending his position on gun control. Receiving noticeable boos from the audience, the former mayor said, "The Second Amendment gives people an individual right to keep and bear arms. Government can impose reasonable regulations." He subsequently asserted that states "can have a little leeway" in determining their own gun laws, but that the Supreme Court should determine what gun laws don't infringe upon constitutional rights.

The debate then shifted to the related issue of inner city crime, during which Romney and Giuliani butted heads again. Romney stated that a return to traditional family values, more police and better education in inner city schools will help reduce crime. Giuliani had the upper hand on the debate, citing his achievements at reducing crime in Harlem by 80 percent while he was mayor of New York City.

The candidates did seem to reach a rare consensus on abortion. All agreed that, if Roe v. Wade was to be overturned, the decision to ban abortion should be left to individual states rather than the federal government. They also agreed that, if abortion was illegal, the punishment should be left to the states. Overall, they agreed that Roe v. Wade was wrong because it took power away from the states, not necessarily because it condoned a controversial procedure.

However, shortly afterwards Romney and McCain engaged in heated debate over waterboarding and controversial interrogation techniques. Romney refused to specify which interrogation techniques he would and would not condone as president, but reaffirmed that he does not support giving enemy combatants legal representation in the U.S.

McCain, drawing on his experience as a prisoner of war during Vietnam, accused the former governor of not understanding the Geneva Convention and asserted, "let me tell you, if we're going to get the high ground in this world and we're going to be the America that we have cherished and loved for more than 200 years, we're not going to torture people," to much audience applause.

The audience seemed somewhat divided throughout the debate, but particularly on the issue of long-term involvement in Iraq. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) said, "we should be there absolutely as long as it takes to complete our mission there" and related our involvement in Iraq to terrorism, stating "Islamic terrorism has declared war on us and Western civilization. They would like nothing better than to kill millions of people as they bring us down." His response, in line with current administration's policy on Iraq, received substantial applause.

However, Paul presented a radically different view of American involvement in Iraq: "The best commitment we can make to the Iraqi people is to give them their country back." He received seemingly equivalent applause after that statement and after relating the war in Iraq to the failures of the Vietnam War. McCain chimed in with Thompson, stating that terrorists in Iraq "want to follow us home." However, his response received substantial booing. Overall, the audience seemed somewhat schizophrenic on the Iraq issue, perhaps suggesting a divided party.

In one of the last major questions of the debate, retired Brigadier General Keith Kerr asked candidates why they thought "American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians." Both Huckabee and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) stated that the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is necessary for "unit cohesion" and would put troop morale at risk. McCain and Romney agreed that it seems to be working.

However, the retired general was later found to be on Hillary Clinton's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender steering committee. Executive producer of the debate, David Bohrman later stated, "We regret this incident. CNN would not have used the general's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate." At this point in time, it is unclear if General Kerr was acting as a plant or independently of Clinton's campaign.

Many of the questions fielded to candidates dealt with generic Republican campaign issues, such as abortion, gun control and taxes, but the CNN/YouTube debate is unique in how the questions are framed. The videos chosen for this debate were noticeably more stark than those of the Democratic CNN/Youtube debate -- no snowmen present here. Many questions were posed in a severe, almost ominous way: a Southerner pointed to a Confederate flag on his wall as he asked candidates their opinion of it, a National Rifle Association member pointed a gun at the camera as he asked about gun control, and many others simply stood starkly in front of the camera as they their asked their questions about harsh issues.

It should be interesting to see how this debate affects the national polls, as frontrunners Giuliani and Romney noticeably fumbled over questions. Huckabee, an up-and-comer in Iowa, took a more prominent role in the debate. According to CNN's post-debate online poll, viewers chose Paul as the winner of the debate, although it should be noted that the representative has a highly-dedicated, active support base online. Huckabee came in second with McCain, Romney and Giuliani trailing him. Giuliani and Romney lead in most disappointing performances. Overall, it is unsure whether a clear "winner" of the debate emerged from last night's rancorous banter.