SIOUX CITY, Iowa ? It was back to the ?90s on the stage here Thursday night, as Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney battled decades-old attacks on their conservative credentials and business records in the final debate before the Jan. 3 caucuses.
Under harsh attacks from their underdog opponents and persistent scrutiny from the Fox News debate moderators, the two Republican front-runners both tried to avoid an 11th-hour stumble.
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Gingrich appeared to get the rougher end of the bargain, finding himself on the defensive from the very first question.
The former House speaker vehemently denied charges that he made a fortune in the influence business, betrayed conservatives as a leader in Congress and lacks the temperament to be president.
Under assault from multiple opponents over his work as a consultant for the troubled lender Freddie Mac, Gingrich declared that money had not influenced his political views.
?I have never once changed my positions because of any kind of payment,? Gingrich said, brushing aside the barb. ?I was a national figure who was doing just fine doing a whole variety of things, including writing bestselling books.?
Accused by both Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann of being unfriendly to core conservative voters, Gingrich urged voters to look at his record.
?I think on the conservative thing, it?s sort of laughable to suggest that somebody who campaigned with Ronald Reagan and with Jack Kemp and has had a 30-year record of conservatism is somehow not a conservative,? Gingrich said.
Attacked for having once suggested he?d support Republicans who support some abortion rights, Gingrich shot back: ?I said I wasn?t gonna go out and purge Republicans.?
Romney, too, struggled to fight off charges of ideological insincerity, taking issue with Fox host Chris Wallace when he suggested that Romney had shifted positions on gay rights and gun-related issues since running for Senate against Ted Kennedy 17 years ago.
?I do not believe in discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation,? Romney said. ?In 1994 and throughout my career, I?ve said I oppose same-sex marriage.?
Romney acknowledged, as he has before, that his position on abortion changed over time.
He also addressed the attack ? leveled by both Gingrich and the Democrats ? that as a private equity executive he was responsible for laying off thousands of American workers.
?In the real world, some things don?t make it, and I believe I?ve learned from my successes and my failures,? Romney said. ?We did our very best to make those businesses succeed. I?m pleased that they did.?
Gingrich and Romney didn?t direct attacks at each other. But Bachmann, Santorum and Ron Paul were more than happy to do the honors.
More often than not, they aimed at Gingrich.
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