Political Debate | featured news

Rick Santorum’s acknowledgment of voting for No Child Left Behind threatened to undercut his message that he is the unimpeachable conservative in the Republican nominating contest.

The last time the four remaining contenders in the GOP presidential race met on a debate stage, all eyes were on Newt Gingrich, who was trying to ride the momentum off his surprise victory in South Carolina.

CNN has canceled plans for a GOP presidential debate on March 1, after Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum indicated they would skip the event. "Without full participation of all four candidates, CNN will not move forward with the Super Tuesday debate," CNN said in a statement.

The hands came out of the pockets. The gaze was intense. Mitt Romney leaned confidently into the lectern. Even with the sound turned off, Romney would have stolen Newt Gingrich's debate thunder with a surprisingly commanding and aggressive performance in the latest Florida faceoff, body language experts said Friday.

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich attack each other ahead of a debate in Florida on Monday, just days after Mr Gingrich's upset in the South Carolina primary. Mr Gingrich's campaign said it received $1m (£643,000) in 24 hours following his primary win in South Carolina.

Newt Gingrich has stormed to an upset victory over Mitt Romney in the South Carolina GOP primary with a pair of strong debate performances that most voters said was important to their choice.

He blasts the moderator for asking a question about an ex-wife and then trades sharp jabs with Rick Santorum and front-runner Mitt Romney. With time ebbing to catch front-runner Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidates brawled Thursday night in a debate that drew angry denunciations of the media from Newt Gingrich and spurred heated disagreements between Gingrich and fellow challenger Rick Santorum.

Newt Gingrich said Mitt Romney raised taxes as Massachusetts governor. Romney countered he cut taxes 19 times. Both were basically right, but decidedly one-sided, in the Republican presidential debate Monday night.

Newt Gingrich was hammered by TV ads, in interviews and on the debate stage Thursday as his GOP rivals sought to slow his momentum.

Seven GOP presidential candidates will meet for their final debate of the year, in their last chance to make an impression before the Iowa caucuses. ...