Tempers still raw after fractious Republican debate

By Steve Holland

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - Tempers were raw between rival Republican presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney on Thursday after a lively debate that included what the Romney camp called a nasty attack by Giuliani.

The two candidates -- Giuliani ahead in national polls and Romney leading in the two early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire -- went toe-to-toe on Wednesday on illegal immigration and other issues.

In the sharpest exchange of the night, Giuliani had a tough response when Romney insisted New York had been a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants when Giuliani was mayor.

Giuliani labeled the former Massachusetts governor's home a "sanctuary mansion" and accused him of turning a blind eye to illegal immigrants working on its upkeep.

"It just happens you have a special immigration problem that nobody else up here has," Giuliani added. "You were employing illegal immigrants."

"I thought that that was Mayor Giuliani showing his nasty side," said Romney communications director Matt Rhoades. "And it was a personal attack of a personal nature, and the audience booed him."

Giuliani aide Bill Paxon, a former Republican congressman, said it was Romney who initiated the attack on Giuliani.

"Others have tried to misrepresent his record. And I think they learned that he doesn't take it when he's attacked. He's going to come back, he's going to tell the truth, he's going to lay it out," Paxon said.

How Republican voters will view the scrap remains to be seen, but some of the other participants and viewers of the debate thought it was over the top.

Tempers are rising with little more than a month to go before Iowa on January 3 holds the first of the state-by-state contests to determine which Republican and Democrat will face off in the November 4, 2008, election. New Hampshire is on January 8.

"I thought that was overdone," said Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who himself got into a couple of sparring matches with Arizona Sen. John McCain at the CNN/YouTube event. "I finally got a little bit tired of it -- especially because I couldn't participate in the debate."

Chuck Norris, the martial arts expert and tough-guy actor who is backing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, said the dust-up helped Huckabee.

"You know what I did? I tuned them out," Norris said. "I don't listen to mud-slinging. I want to know what the issues are."

Tennessee Republican Rep. Zach Wamp, a backer of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, called it a "bad night."

"Romney and Giuliani -- they were almost spinning out of control," said Wamp, insisting that his man did "incredibly well because he's strong and resolute and comfortable now."