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Republican presidential hopefuls generally minded their manners during last night's debate in South Carolina. That state holds the first southern primary a week from tomorrow. Candidates discussed the economy, foreign policy and the political legacy of Ronald Reagan.
NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
SCOTT HORSLEY: South Carolina likes to think of itself as a kingmaker in Republican politics or, at least, a mandatory ticket punch. No GOP candidate has won his party's nomination without carrying South Carolina since the state began holding primaries in 1980.
South Carolina is also where former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson hopes to finally make his mark after finishing well behind the leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire. Thompson came out swinging last night against his fellow southerner, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
Mr. FRED THOMPSON (Former Republican Senator, Tennessee; Presidential Candidate): He would be a Christian leader but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies. He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy and the tradition of blame America first. That's not the model of the Reagan coalition, that's the model of the Democratic Party.
HORSLEY: Huckabee, who won Iowa with the help of evangelical voters, hopes to do well in South Carolina, too. He took the criticism as a sign of success.
Mr. MIKE HUCKABEE (Former Republican Governor, Arkansas; Presidential Candidate): The Air Force have a saying, says that if you're not catching flak, you're not over the target. I am catching the flak. I must be over the target.
HORSLEY: Huckabee insists he does believe in the so-called Reagan coalition of social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and defense hawks. But more than the other Republicans in the race, Huckabee offers a populist appeal to blue-collar voters. Many of whom are nervous about the state of the economy.
Mr. HUCKABEE: Over the years, sometimes Republicans have thought that one part of that coalition was more important than the other. I think they're all important, and we need to recapture them. But we need to make sure that we communicate that our party is just as interested in helping the people who are single moms, who are working two jobs, and still just barely paying the rent as we are the people at the top of the economy.
HORSLEY: Arizona Senator John McCain, who is hoping to build on his New Hampshire victory, passed up an invitation to criticize Huckabee. But he did spar with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney over the same change versus experience issue that's come to characterize the Democratic presidential race.
Romney, who paints himself as a turnaround specialist, says, even though McCain's experience carried New Hampshire, voters are still anxious for something different.
Mr. MITT ROMNEY (Former Republican Governor, Massachusetts; Presidential Candidate): I know how to bring change, and I will change Washington. I will take it apart and put it back together simpler, smaller, smarter.
HORSLEY: McCain insists he is also a change agent despite 26 years in Congress.
Senator JOHN McCAIN (Republican, Arizona; Presidential Candidate): I've been one of those involved in one of the most important changes that we could have ever have made and that is reverse a losing strategy in Iraq.
HORSLEY: McCain was a vocal critic of the administration's early war strategy in Iraq, and a strong supporter of the military surge, which marked its first anniversary yesterday.
Most of the candidates defended the U.S. Navy for showing restraint over the weekend when confronted by aggressive Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says it's a reminder that Iran is still a threat despite intelligence findings that it's halted work on its nuclear program. And Thompson said the naval encounter easily might have escalated.
Mr. THOMPSON: I think one more step, you know, and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they're looking forward to seeing.
HORSLEY: That kind of rebuttal alarmed Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who had a blimp floating over the debate hall last night and the noisy cheering section inside. Paul likened the incident to the Gulf of Tonkin engagement that was used as a justification for expanded military action in Vietnam.
Congressman RON PAUL (Republican, Texas; Presidential Candidate): Let's put it in a perspective. We have five small speedboats attacking U.S. Navy with a Destroyer? They could take care of those speedboats in about five seconds. And here we are ready to start World War III over this?
HORSLEY: Most polls show either Huckabee or McCain leading in South Carolina. But Huckabee was asked how well he might compete outside the Bible belt. As an ordained minister, Huckabee signed on to a controversial 1998 newspaper ad, praising the Southern Baptist Convention for his policy saying a wife should submit herself graciously to her husband.
Mr. HUCKABEE: You know, it's interesting everybody says religion is off limits, except we always can ask me the religious questions. So let me try to do my best to answer it.
(Soundbite of applause)
HORSLEY: Huckabee offered some biblical context for the ad, and said anyone who has met his wife, Janet, knows she is anything but submissive. He also joked that if the debate is going to dwell on church matters, he'd like to pass a collection plate because his fledgling campaign is sorely in need of money.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.