WASHINGTON — Five Republicans slammed President Obama — but went easy on one another — in South Carolina last night for the first presidential debate of the 2012 elections, while many big-name potential candidates stayed on the sidelines.
With former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump and other well-known contenders watching on Fox instead of participating, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty took on the posture of a front-runner, despite lagging in the early polls.
Pawlenty congratulated Obama for the successful mission that ended Sunday in the death of Osama bin Laden.
“He did a good job, and I tip my cap to him in that moment,” he said, before slamming other elements of Obama’s foreign policy.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, an outspoken social conservative, ripped Obama for “siding with the mullahs” during an uprising in Iran.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a crowd favorite and fund-raising powerhouse in the 2008 campaign, said of the terror kingpin: “We went to Afghanistan to get him and he hasn’t been there. Now that he has been killed, boy, it is a wonderful time for this country to reassess [the war].”
Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain said he was proud to have not held public office but was ready to “try my time.”