Romney, Perry aim for chin

Photo by Ed Andrieski / Associated Press

Texas Gov. Rick Perry addresses the Western Conservative Summit in Denver on Friday, July 29, 2011. Perry and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum gave keynote addresses Friday night.

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Photo by Jay LaPrete / Associated Press

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in the warehouse at Screen Machine Industries during a campaign stop in Pataskala, Ohio, Wednesday, July 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Side-by-side in confrontational debate, Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry sarcastically accused each other last night of flip-flopping on Social Security and health care, flashpoints in their intense struggle for the party nomination.

In a debate that focused on character and credibility as much as other issues, Perry insisted he had backed off "not one inch, Sir" from what he had written in a campaign-season book published a few months ago.

Romney vouched for his own steadfastness moments later. "There are a lot of reasons not to elect me," he said. "There are a lot of reasons not to elect other people on this stage. . . . But one reason to elect me is I know what I stand for. I've written it down. Words have meaning."

The two men assailed one another in the third debate in as many weeks in a race for the Republican presidential nomination growing testier by the day.

Perry runs ahead in national opinion polls, with Romney a close second, and they compete daily for endorsements from members of Congress and other party luminaries in hopes of gaining a permanent edge before the caucuses and primaries begin early next year.

The other contenders on the stage struggled at times to gain the debate spotlight, even as they struggle to gain traction in the polls.

The GOP presidential candidates all agreed quickly on one point - that President Obama's handling of the economy is woeful. They said they would cut taxes, eliminate government regulations and take other steps to help create jobs in a nation with 9.1 percent unemployment.

Yet the two-hour event was marked by clashes over Social Security, health care, immigration, gun rights and more.

Romney accused Perry of having said the federal government "shouldn't be in the pension business, that it's unconstitutional," a reference to Social Security benefits.

Noting his rival's denials, Romney mocked him. "You better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that," he said.

Perry soon returned the favor, saying that Romney switched his position on health care between editions of a book he had published. In one edition, Perry said, Romney advocated expanding to the rest of the country the health care program he signed in Massachusetts. "Then in your paperback you took that line out, so speaking of not getting it straight in your book, Sir."

"It's like badminton," said Perry.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota told one questioner, "You should get to keep every dollar you earn," then backpedaled. "Obviously we have to give money back to the government so we can run the government," she said.

The two-hour event was sponsored by Fox News and Google, in keeping with an emerging trend in which mainstream media organizations partner with internet companies.

Without saying so, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave an endorsement of sorts to one of the elements of Obama's job proposals. Asked whether he would renew unemployment benefits for those out of work, he said they should be required to participate in a "business led" job training program. "I believe it is fundamentally wrong to give people money for 99 weeks for doing nothing." He added.