Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo, Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, with Brit Hume and Chris Wallace

“ And of course it's our aspiration that at some point we'll see a nation that doesn't have abortion. But until that time, I certainly believe that allowing states and citizens and their representatives to fashion their own laws to protect the sanctity of life is very, very important.
I recognize that for many people, that is considered an act of murder, to have an abortion. It is without question the taking of a human life. And I believe that a civilized society must respect the sanctity of the human life. ”

“ GIULIANI: It's a matter of principle. I think if you're president of the United States, you take one pledge: to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
It is my intention to lower taxes. I have without any doubt of all the people running for president the strongest record of lowering taxes. I did it 23 times in a city that never lowered a tax before. Well over $9 billion. I lowered the personal income tax 25 percent, and I was collecting 40 percent more in revenues from the lower tax than the higher tax. ”

“ MCCAIN: Look, this is an emotional and passionate issue, and one that -- very seldom have I seen an issue that aroused this much passion with the American people.
No one, by the way, is for amnesty. I and the president of the United States, both of us from border states, came forward with a plan that we thought was comprehensive and workable with the priority being border security, which remains my position.
Why we failed is because the American people have lost trust and confidence in us -- our failure in Katrina, our failures in Iraq, our failures to control runaway spending. ”

“ Gentlemen, let's talk about taxes and spending. As you all well know, pledges not to raise income taxes are a big deal here in New Hampshire. Six of you on this stage – six of you on this stage have signed the pledge of the Americans for Tax Reform to oppose any increase in marginal tax rates, while two of you have not.
Senator McCain, why have you refused to sign and why do you feel that six of your seven colleagues here on the stage are mistaken in deciding to take that pledge? ”

“ General Vessey said, "Any information that we may gain through the use of torture can never, ever be counterbalanced by the damage it does to America's reputation and the risk – and the risk that when an American is in the hands of an enemy that they will use the fact that we tortured people as an excuse to torture our brave men and women in the military." ”

“ I am not running as the perfect candidate for president of the United States. I'm running as a human being who has been very successful as a leader and had definable results in a situation in which people thought it was impossible to accomplish these things.
They thought it was impossible to take on the Mafia. I succeeded in doing it. They thought it was impossible to reduce crime. I did. They thought it was impossible to reduce welfare. I removed 640,000 people from the welfare rolls.
And they thought it was impossible to manage New York City. It was described as an unmanageable city. ”

“ Governor, why do you feel that some of the people who oppose illegal immigrants who have broken the law -- why do you feel some of them are racist?
HUCKABEE: Well, first of all, because I've listened to some of them. And it's not the concern that people are coming here for opportunities or even that they're illegal.
Look, I want to be very clear: I agree, we ought to have sealed borders. People in this country are essentially good folks. They're not angry at immigrants who want to come here for the same reason that our ancestors came. ”

“ Mayor Giuliani, I want to follow up on what Governor Romney said. In New York City, you allowed illegals to report crime and to seek medical treatment, you said in the interests of public safety. But, in fact, you went a lot further than that as mayor.
Back in 1994, you said the following: "If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being a fugitive, which is really unfair." ”

“ HUCKABEE: Well, Chris, the first problem is that the Bush tax panel did not look at the FairTax proposal. They looked at something that called itself that, but it was not.
The true FairTax proposal is the 23 percent. And what it does do is empower everyone in the economy, not just the people at the bottom and the very top, but all of the middle class, which is a desperate need.
It's pretty sad right now that the average American is more afraid of an IRS audit than getting mugged. ”

“ PAUL: No, we've dug a hole for ourselves and we've dug a hole for our party. We're losing elections and we're going down next year if we don't change it, and it has all to do with foreign policy and we have to wake up to this fact.
HUCKABEE: Even if we lose elections, we should not lose our honor, and that is more important – [inaudible] – the Republican Party.
PAUL: We have lost over 5,000 Americans killed in -- we've lost over 5,000 Americans over there in Afghanistan, in Iraq and plus the civilians killed. How many more you want to lose? ”

“ I made supply-side economics work in a city that didn't understand it. And I ended up having a very positive impact on the economy of the city as the result of that. I lowered 23 different taxes in a city that had a city council with 45 Democrats and six Republicans. So my record is very, very strong as a tax cutter.
But I only think a man running or a woman running for president should take one pledge, and that is to uphold the Constitution of the United States. ”

“ Senator McCain, Mayor Giuliani says his leadership after the 9/11 attacks shows he is the best candidate for national security, and you say nothing he has done shows any real experience in foreign policy or national security affairs. Tell me why, sir.
MCCAIN: Well, I say that Mayor Giuliani did a great job as mayor of New York City and led the country and inspired us after the tragedy of 9/11, and I admire that and appreciate it.
I've spent my life in national security issues. I've taken unpopular stance because I knew what was right. ”

“ We don't need more children born out of wedlock; we need more children born into wedlock, between a mom and a dad bonded together for life.
When you do these vast, social experiments -- and that's what this is, when you redefine marriage -- it's a vast, social experiment. They're not done in isolation. ”

“ They don't want our troops on the Arabian Peninsula. We have no need for our national security to have troops on the Arabian Peninsula.
And going into Iraq and Afghanistan and threatening Iran is the worst thing we can do for our national security. I am less safe, the American people are less safe for this.
It's the policy that is wrong. Tactical movements and shifting troops around and taking in the 30 more and reducing by five -- totally irrelevant.
We need a new foreign policy that said we ought to mind our own business, bring our troops home, defend this country, defend our borders... ”

“ I think what we need to do now is look at the situation we have and now have a political surge taking place. This is Thomas Friedman's statement, but it is true. You've got the military that has made a number of progressive steps, particularly in the west -- Al Anbar Province -- they've made progress.
But we don't have a political solution on the ground that works in Iraq. Iraq is less a country than it is three groups held together by exterior forces. It's the Kurds in the north, the Sunni in the west, the Shia in the south, and a mixed city in Baghdad. ”

“ What do you do next before you actually take out the military action?
What you do next is this: the president meets with leaders, Republican and Democrat, to make sure we're all on the same page. We want to make sure that Democrats sign up, that we're all part of this on a unified basis.
[crosstalk] ROMNEY: Number two -- well, my experience is being able to build consensus, and I'm not going to take that. I believe good Democrats love America just like good Republicans, and I'll find a way to get us to work together. ”

“ But it's still the president that decides. And it's the president that should have all the information feeding in there to him in that position of authority, and you need somebody that has a good, broad base of experience to be able to do it. Good, broad base of foreign policy experience.
And if I could say one thought on this presidential power, because it's important, we've got hundreds of millions of entries into the United State legally each year, of individuals that are U.S. citizens and individuals that are not U.S. citizens. This is a big, international country. ”

“ A lot of conservatives would like to see a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. And we have a chance here to talk to Heidi Turcotte of Dover, state employees -- a state employee, Health and Human Services social worker. What do you think, should we be banning -- should there be a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage?
HEIDI TURCOTTE: Absolutely not. We're the state of live free or die, and people should be able to marry the person they love. ”

“ So instead of looking for this scenario where it is inevitable that we have to attack, I think that we ought to be talking about how to get along with some people that are deadly, like the Soviets and the Chinese and the many others. We don't have to resort to war every single time there is a confrontation.
They are not a threat to Israel. Israel has 200 or 300 nuclear missiles, and they can take care of themselves. ”

“ We've got a responsibility to the honor of this country and to the honor of every man and woman who has served in Iraq and ever served in our military to not leave them with anything less than the honor that they deserve.
PAUL: Can I respond...
HUME: Go ahead. You wanted to respond. He just addressed you. You go ahead and respond.
PAUL: The American people didn't go in. A few people advising this administration, a small number of people called the neoconservatives hijacked our foreign policy. They're responsible, not the American people. They're not responsible. We shouldn't punish them. ”

“ But, of course, when we consider moving to a support role and bringing, at some stage, our troop levels back, we're going to be doing that from a position of strength because the surge has worked.
There's no question it's essential for America to show that we are committed to success in Iraq. Our men and women are the bravest and most patriotic in the world that are over there fighting. ”

“ But we have two lives involved here -- a mom, an unborn child. We have to have concern for both lives and show the expression of our compassion and our consideration and work to change hearts and minds, and that's the way in my view we'll ultimately have a society without abortion.
GOLER: Governor Huckabee, do you see any real difference between Governor Romney's willingness to allow legalized abortion in some states and Mayor Giuliani's support -- effective support -- for a woman's right to choose? ”

“ And if we're going to solve problems of education, crime, what's taking place in some of our areas where we're not getting the growth, we've got to rebuild the family. That's at the core of what we need to do.
And we shouldn't walk away from family values for fear that instances like this happen within our party. We should be bolder about standing up for family. Family's important for us, and it's important for America. ”

“ That's why, rather than just say here's what button I would push, I'd say I would go with every bit of preparation, not only in my head by in my heart, to make a decision that would best protect the American people for generations to come. ”

“ I think it's clear that the United Nations Security Council will not act effectively with Russia and China behaving as they are. But let's see what Iran has been doing.
Your hypothetical is closer than reality than many of us appreciate. Iranians are sending lethal IEDs that are killing American soldiers. They're training and equipping terrorists. They have dedicated themselves to the destruction of the state of Israel. ”

“ The world is flat. I ought to know that. Being from Kansas, I understand flat.
WALLACE: Governor Huckabee, the latest national intelligence estimate, which was out recently, says that even if we continue the troop surge -- and we're going to put it up on the screen -- "Iraq's security will continue to improve modestly during the next six to 12 months, but levels of insurgent and sectarian violence will remain high and the Iraqi government will continue to struggle to achieve national-level political reconciliation and improved governance." ”

“ I mean, the airlines -- private industry protects their property all the time. People who haul around money in armored trucks protect their money all the time. But here is one example when the federal government was involved and they messed it up, and if we put the responsibility on the right people, respected the second amendment, I sincerely believe there would have been a lot less chance of 9/11 ever happening. ”