Republican Presidential hopefuls debated Saturday in Iowa, three weeks before voters head to the polls in that state. New GOP front runner Newt Gingrich took punches early and often especially from his closest rival Mitt Romney Romney accused Gingrich of far-fetched ideas such as mining minerals on the moon.
Romney said the bigger difference is that he offers decades of experience as a private sector executive, while Gingrich was a Washington insider.
Gingrich, the former House speaker ahead in Iowa, countered that Romney would have become a Washington insider had he not lost his U.S. Senate bid in 1994.
"The only reason you didn't become a career politician is because you lost to Ted Kennedy in 1994," Gingrich said.
Romney quickly retorted: "If I'd been able to get in the NFL as I'd hoped as a kid, I could have been a football star too."
Candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry tied rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich together and calling them not conservative.
Bachmann referred repeatedly to "Newt-Romney," saying Gingrich and Romney hold similar views on health care, illegal immigration, cap-and-trade legislation and the payroll tax cut extension.
Perry said he agrees with Bachmann. He attacked Romney for including an individual mandate in the insurance plan he signed as governor of Massachusetts.
Bachmann says if voters want a "proven conservative, it's not Newt-Romney."
The Republican hopefuls are debated at Drake University in Des Moines.
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