7 GOP hopefuls hold a debate in N.H.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Seven Republican candidates introduced themselves, made stern pledges to slash government, and pounded President Obama as a failed steward of the nation's economy in the first major debate of the 2012 presidential race.

But they mostly stayed away from defining their differences. Asked questions designed to provoke criticism of one another's positions, the candidates repeatedly used them instead to launch attacks on the president.

"When 14 million Americans are out of work, we need a new president to end the Obama Depression," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, kicking off the pummeling.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota used the debate to make news of her own, declaring that she had filed her official papers earlier in the day to run for president.

"What we need is the mother of all repeal bills," Bachmann said, promising to get rid of Obama's national health-care law, to impose new regulations on the financial industry, and to rename the Environmental Protection Agency the "Job-Killing Agency of America." She said Obama would be a "one-term president."

As the front-runner for the GOP nomination, confirmed by a new poll Monday, Mitt Romney had been expected to be the target of rivals seeking to disrupt the former Massachusetts governor, but he left the stage unscathed.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, for instance, had taken a dig at Romney on Fox News Sunday for his Massachusetts health-care law - and its similarities to Obama's federal law, particularly the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance.

"Obamneycare," Pawlenty said, but he would not repeat the attack on the stage, despite goading from CNN host John King.

Romney said the auto bailout was a mistake and added more generally: "Instead of thinking in the federal budget what should we cut, we should ask ourselves the opposite question: 'What should we keep?' "

He called the federal debt a "moral issue," saying, in an echo of Abraham Lincoln, that the issue in the campaign was to "make sure America is always known as the hope of the Earth."

Pawlenty called Obama a "declinist" president who is limiting the country's ability to compete with foreign nations economically with an increased role for the federal government.

Pawlenty defended his economic plan, which relies on massive tax cuts and assumes an annual 5 percent growth rate in the U.S. economy.

"This idea that we can't have 5 percent growth in America is hogwash. It's a defeatist attitude," he said. "If China can have 5 percent growth and Brazil can have 5 percent growth, then the United States of America can have 5 percent growth. And I don't accept this notion that we're going to be average or anemic."

This has been one of the most undefined Republican fields in decades, with none of the contenders cementing a position as an overwhelming favorite - yet Romney is in the lead.

Because Romney ran in 2008, he does not have to spend time introducing himself to GOP primary voters and building credibility as a viable presidential candidate, tasks that some of his rivals still need to accomplish.

Along with Romney, Pawlenty, Gingrich, and Bachmann onstage at St. Anselm College for the CNN debate were businessman Herman Cain, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Santorum, asked about Romney's switch from a former supporter of abortion rights to an opponent, said it was valid for voters to question the "authenticity" of all candidates, but rather than attacking Romney he focused on his own record.

"A lot of folks run as pro-life, and then when they're elected, put the issue on the back burner," said Santorum, author of the federal law banning a form of late-term abortion. "I have taken the bullets."

Paul said the United States should immediately withdraw from Afghanistan, after Romney said that the pace of the drawdown of troops should be determined by the generals in the field. "As president, I would tell the generals what to do," Paul said.

Cain, who bragged that he has never been a politician, called for the elimination of the capital-gains tax to spur investment that would stimulate the economy. "This economy is stalled like a train on the tracks with no engine," he said.

The debate took place in the critical early voting state of New Hampshire, which hosts the nation's first primary, scheduled for next February. The debate was up against the sixth game of the Stanley Cup finals between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins, who were facing elimination, so it was unclear how big the local audience would be.

"Bruins are up 4-0," Romney said about an hour into the two-hour debate, drawing cheers.

One additional likely contender, former Utah governor and ex-U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, did not take part. Also missing was Sarah Palin, who has taken a flashy bus tour but might not run, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who ran in 2008 and has been sounding out New Hampshire Republicans about another run.

A national Gallup poll released Monday found that nearly one in four Republicans now supports Romney for the nomination - with 24 percent naming him as their choice, up from 17 percent in late May.

Only Palin also reached double digits in the survey, with 16 percent backing the former half-term Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee. With her name out of the equation, Gallup found Romney's lead was 27 percent to 10 percent for Cain. Paul, the libertarian icon, was supported by 7 percent of Republicans, down from 10 percent in May. Pawlenty and Santorum each drew 6 percent in the poll.