SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - Republican Mitt Romney said John McCain used dirty tricks by suggesting shortly before the Florida primary that the former Massachusetts governor wanted a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, as the two men squared off in a spirited debate Wednesday night.
Coming 24 hours after McCain defeated him in the Florida election, Romney vented his frustrations over the Arizona senator’s claims.
“I have never, ever supported a specific timetable” for withdrawing troops, Romney said. McCain’s accusation on the eve of Tuesday’s presidential primary, he said, “sort of falls into the dirty tricks that I think Ronald Reagan would have found reprehensible.”
The debate was held in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
McCain stuck to his guns, saying, “of course he said he wanted a timetable” for a withdrawal.
McCain made the allegation over the weekend as he tried to shift the debate from the ailing economy, a stronger issue for Romney, a former venture capitalist and businessman.
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Romney, McCain Spar Over Iraq TimetableÂ
I have to say, after tonight I have got to believe that Mitt Romney will be the best choice the Republicans can make, McCain is a doddering old man, he rambles, he repeats himself, he’s still McCain/Feingold and McCain/Kennedy and he’s still the ultimate RINO.
Huckabee was decent in his answers I thought, but I still don’t trust him, he turned Arkansas into a ‘sanctuary’ state for ILLEGALS and no matter what he says now, I am afraid he’d turn over a different side of his ‘leadership’ if elected and would push to make this a sanctuary nation.
Ron Paul fired off a couple of damn good shots when he was given the opportunity to speak, and that didn’t happen too often, but he did make a good showing for himself in my opinion, at least tonight he did.
And another tidbit to come out tonight, Gov. Schwarzenegger to Endorse McCain, well, that’s NO surprise at all, Schwarzenegger is as much of a RINO as McCain is, neither is a Conservative, neither is a REAL Republican and BOTH are a lot closer to the Dems than they care to admit and this, Giuliani Abandons Bid, Endorses McCain, this was no surprise either, RINOs supporting RINOs, and any Conservative worth his salt will see right through the whole facade, but here’s the really sad part of the entire equation, without the Conservatives and Republicans sticking together, the Dems WILL win the White House.
Romney is not the ‘perfect’ candidate, none of them ever will be, but he’s likely the best the RNC can offer up, and I will officially go on record, here and now, and I make this a public disclosure to any and all that have doubts as to where I stand, IF John McCain is the candidate chosen by the RNC to run for the White House, I will NOT support the Republican choice, I won’t vote Dem, that’s not even an option, but I may very well be writing in a candidate for POTUS.
And yes, I DO realize that’s giving the Dems a vote, but be that as it may, if the Repubs DO nominate McCain, then it’s time for all of the Conservatives of this nation to stand and let their feelings be known, and if it costs us the White House for 4 years, so be it, but you can bet that if it does, come election time in 2012, the Repubs will either listen to what we have to say or there will be a viable, Conservative party in the race.
And I am seriously starting to believe that we MUST have a strong, viable, honest and incorruptible 3rd party Conservative offering.
