(image source: The New York Times)
BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN
ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY
First shots fired in what many analysts say is increasingly becoming a two-man race.
TEXAS GOV. RICK PERRY: “We created more jobs in the last three months in Texas than he created in four years in Massachusetts.”
FORMER MASS. GOV. MITT ROMNEY: “Texas has a right-to-work state, a Republican legislature, a Republican Supreme Court...Governor Perry doesn’t believe he created those things. If he tried to say that, it would be like Al Gore saying he created the Internet.”
Fighting words. The New York Times says -- Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney overshadowed their opponents on the stage in California.
“A series of spirited exchanges between the two men, which revealed differences in substance and style, offered the first extensive look into the months-long contest ahead. They traded attacks on each other’s job creation records and qualifications to be president...”
It was Governor Perry’s first national debate since entering the race in August -- and at one point in the debate he said he felt like the pinata.
So how’d he do? CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen says -- he was alright -- but Mitt Romney came out on top. That said -- he suggests Perry’s got a lot going for him in the race.
“He was more articulate on many occasions. But Governor Perry brings a muscularity to the debate that I think will appear to an awful lot of voters. There's sort of a decisive quality about him that I don't think you see so much -- and he doesn't back down easily. I can certainly understand why he appeals to a lot of voters and why this is going to be a very, very interesting race.”
But Governor Perry penned a book out just last year -- in which he called Social Security a “Ponzi Scheme.” He’s taken heat for that -- but he stood by it Thursday night.
PERRY: “It is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids, you’re paying into a program that’s gonna be there. Anybody that’s for the status quo with Social Security today, is involved in a monstrous lie to our kids. And that’s not right.”
The Atlantic’s Jill Lawrence says -- Perry’s consistent, all right -- but his hardline stances might not do him any favors.
“Are we going to hear [Romney] go after Perry for lamenting that state legislatures no longer pick senators, or the questionable constitutionality of Medicare? Asked by moderator John Harris to confirm that he is ‘standing by every word’ in the book, Perry answered with an immediate ‘Yes, sir.’ That makes him a lot more consistent than Romney -- but at a cost.”
A Washington Post/ABC News poll out this week puts Perry at the top of the pack with 27% support -- and Mitt Romney -- 22 percent.
Transcript by Newsy.
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