Romney holds frontrunner pace as rivals attack

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GOFFSTOWN, (New Hampshire), Jan 8, (AFP): Republican US presidential candidate Mitt Romney weathered sharp attacks from his rivals in a Saturday night debate and pushed full speed ahead towards New Hampshire's bellwether primary.
Assailed on his business background, the frontrunner made no major stumbles and often stood, hands in his trouser pockets and an amused smile on his face, as his would-be challengers ripped each other up in the prime-time contest. The former Massachusetts senator and millionaire venture capitalist, eyeing a victory here Tuesday and in South Carolina on January 21, kept his fire trained on the man he aims to take on in November-President Barack Obama.
"His policies have made the recession deeper, and his policies have made the recovery more tepid," Romney said at the outset of the 90-minute debate, the first of a pair barely 12 hours apart ahead of the primary here Tuesday.
His more conservative rivals, seeing time running out to deny him the nomination, took aim at Romney's financier past, noting that his Bain Capital firm made hefty profits after dismantling firms and laying off thousands of workers.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich accused him of embracing "a Wall Street model where you can flip companies, you can go in and have leveraged buyouts, you can basically take out all the money, leaving behind the workers."