Seven presidential hopefuls focus on current leader's economic record

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - Republican presidential hopefuls assailed President Barack Obama's handling of the economy in their first major debate of the campaign season, seizing on an issue they hope will open a path to the White House.

The New Hampshire debate on Monday night unfolded more than six months before the state hosts the first primary of the 2012 campaign, and the Republicans who shared a stage were plainly more interested in criticizing Obama than one another.

The seven Republican candidates ganged up on Obama, who remains popular but could be vulnerable in the 2012 race due to the staggering economy, high unemployment and steep gas prices.

Obama was hundreds of kilometers away on a day in which he blended a pledge to help companies create jobs, made during a visit to North Carolina, with a series of campaign fundraisers in Florida. He won the two states in 2008, and both figure to be battlegrounds next year. He was scheduled to be in Puerto Rico on Tuesday with an eye firmly placed on Puerto Ricans back on the mainland who could help him deliver at least one key state during his 2012 re-election campaign.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who first sought the nomination in 2008, was the nominal front-runner as the curtain rose on the debate.

Recent polls show Romney to be the Republican in the best position to defeat Obama in November 2012, but it's not clear that he can win over the party's right wing and secure the nomination.

Romney had a surprisingly easy two hours on Monday night.

He looked calm and steady, criticizing Obama on the economy and healthcare while rarely being forced on the defensive despite some well-known vulnerabilities of his own.

"It was a very friendly debate to say the least, which helps Romney," Republican adviser Greg Mueller said. "No one took center stage and emerged as the main challenger to Romney."

A stiff challenge to Romney from the right "is there for the taking", Mueller said, "but did not happen tonight".

Before the debate, there were signs that Romney might be pressed harder on his record, especially on the Massachusetts healthcare law that requires people to obtain health insurance.

On Sunday, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty had derided the state law as "Obamneycare", because it served as a model for Obama's 2010 healthcare overhaul that many conservatives detest.

Pawlenty seemed loath to revisit the issue on Monday. CNN moderator John King pressed him three times to explain why he had used the term "Obamneycare".

Finally, Pawlenty replied somewhat weakly that it was "a reflection of the president's comments that he designed Obamacare on the Massachusetts healthcare plan".

Associated Press