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November 29, 2007

Republican White House Hopefuls Debate in Florida
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1A69357:A6F02AD83191E1606BA794336AC0D5C0E55ED32ED25AB8F6& US presidential
contenders faced off Wednesday at a debate in which some of the most
heated moments concerned illegal immigration





Mitt Romney, left, and Rudy Giuliani speak simultaneously while
discussing immigration during the CNN/You Tube debate in Florida, 28
Nov. 2007U.S. Republican presidential contenders faced off Wednesday
at a debate in which some of the most heated moments concerned illegal
immigration.

The CNN/YouTube debate was held in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani accused former Massachusetts
Governor Mitt Romney of running a "sanctuary [governor's] mansion"
that employed illegal immigrants.

Romney, who continues to do well in the early contest states of Iowa
and New Hampshire, denied the charge.  He said it would be un-American
to check the documents of every person with what he called a "funny
accent."

U.S. Senator John McCain, who was held prisoner during the Vietnam
War, used the debate to speak out against torture.

After the debate, CNN said it regretted that a question was asked by a
person who has ties to the presidential campaign of Democratic Senator
Hillary Clinton. 

CNN said the questioner, retired Brigadier General Keith Kerr, was
listed in a June media release from Clinton as a member of a steering
committee for gay and lesbian supporters.

Some 5,000 questions were submitted to the debate through the
video-sharing Web site YouTube.  CNN said it chose about 40 questions
it thought could highlight differences among the candidates.  This is
the second time the YouTube format was used for a presidential
debate.  Democratic Party presidential hopefuls took questions from
YouTube users in July.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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