Debate gives candidates a chance to claim conservatism

CNN:

The Republican White House hopefuls tried to present themselves as the most conservative candidate in the final showdown before the Super Tuesday contests.

Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney dominated most of the debate, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul fought to get their voices heard.

When asked if Americans are better off than they were eight years ago, Romney said Washington has not dealt with the country's problems.

"We have people who feel there needs to be a change in Washington, and that's what I represent," he said, kicking off the Republican debate.

Romney said some of rival McCain's views are "out of the mainstream" conservative thought and have hurt the Republican party.

"I would also note if you get endorsed by The New York Times, you're probably not a conservative," Romney said.

McCain, who has emerged as the Republican front-runner, shot back saying, "Let me note that I was endorsed by your two hometown newspapers." McCain said he was proud of his conservative record. Watch the rivals discuss their records »

McCain took a stab at Romney's record, saying, "His job creation was the third-worst in the country, as far as job creation is concerned."

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McCain stab at Romney's job creation record was misleading since the stats included those for his predecessor. While all the candidates claim to be a conservative, McCain is the one with the most support from people who are not conservative. Romney actually did a fair job of pointing out the issues where McCain has not been on the conservative side.

I am not sure it will make any difference since McCain's small victories getting around a third of the vote in a few elections have been magnified into "wins" that are suppose to carry him into next Tuesday's big contests. It is what happens when the conservative Republicans could not coalesce around one candidate, dividing the vote to McCain's advantage.

This debate does raise the question if whether we will ever seen one where Democrats argue about who is the most liberal. If CNN can pull that off they would have a big audience, and some memorable sound bites for the general election.