Republican candidates turn sights on Obama

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopefuls who have long criticized Democratic rival Hillary Clinton turned their guns on rising Democrat Barack Obama on Saturday in a debate replete with acrimonious exchanges.

With Obama winning Iowa, the first contest in the presidential nominating contest, and threatening Clinton in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, the Republicans criticized the Illinois senator as a liberal whose answer to every problem is a bigger federal government.

"Senator Obama has adopted the position of every liberal interest group in this country, as best I can tell," said former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.

Noting Obama's appeal as an agent for change, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani questioned his level of experience as a first-term senator. He said Obama's policy proposals would lead to higher taxes and a premature U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

"And in the case of Senator Obama, he really doesn't have the experience, either from the national security point of view or even from just the executive point of view," Giuliani said.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister who won Iowa and who is running as a Washington outsider, said he had fundamental differences with Obama.

But he was alone in defending the Democrat, saying Obama was a likable person who had excited people and had been able to "touch at the core of something Americans want" -- an end to partisan anger.

"And we'd better be careful as a party, because if we don't give people something to be for, and only something to be against, we're going to lose that next election," Huckabee said.

The attacks on Obama reflected the changing nature of the Democratic campaign.

Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady who has long been public enemy No. 1 for Republican faithful, has lost her front-runner status. Republicans were trying out new challenges to Obama in case he defeats Clinton in his drive to become America's first black president. Clinton would be the first female president.

NEW HAMPSHIRE LOOMS

The Republican debate came at a tense time, with candidates looking for ways to do well enough in New Hampshire to advance in the state-by-state campaign to determine who from their party will face the top Democrat in the November election to succeed President George W. Bush.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is threatening Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, got into an angry cross-fire over illegal immigration with the former Massachusetts governor, who is seeking to become the first Mormon president.

Romney pointed to McCain's support for now-dead Senate legislation that would give as many as 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

He said McCain supported amnesty for illegal immigrants, prompting an angry retort from the 71-year-old senator.

"It's not amnesty. You can spend your whole fortune on these attacks ads, my friend, but it's not true," McCain told the millionaire Romney, who lost Iowa to Huckabee and desperately needs a New Hampshire victory or high finish to remain a credible candidate.

Romney also came under fire from Huckabee, who had prepared an attack ad against Romney in Iowa but decided not to buy television time to air it -- while still pointedly showing it to the news media.

Huckabee accused Romney of not supporting Bush's decision a year ago to increase U.S. troops in Iraq, a move that was hotly criticized at the time but now is seen as bringing some measure of stability to the country.

"I supported the president on the war before you did," said Huckabee. "I'm not a person who is out there taking cheap shots at the president."

Romney shot back that Huckabee was wrong, that he did support the troop surge.

"Don't try to mischaracterize my position," Romney said, turning to Huckabee as they sat next to each other at the ABC News debate.

"Which one?" Huckabee replied.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Patricia Wilson and Peter Cooney)