Mitt Romney moves to center in GOP debate

HANOVER, N.H. -- Presidential challenger Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of failing to lead in a time of economic peril but sounded less conservative than his Republican rivals in their debate Tuesday night, defending the 2008-09 Wall Street bailout and declaring he could work with "good" Democrats.

Romney also gave one of his most spirited defenses of his health care initiative when he was Massachusetts governor, legislation that Obama has called a partial blueprint for his own national overhaul. By positioning himself closer to the political center on several points, Romney sought to underscore his claim that he can draw crucial independent voters in next year's general election.

His chief rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, seemed less sure-footed. He repeated his talking points about free enterprise but did little to dent Romney.

Former pizza company executive Herman Cain, who has climbed in polls lately, got more airtime than usual. He repeatedly touted his call for replacing the U.S. tax code with a 9-percent national sales tax and a 9 percent levy on personal and corporate income.

Romney seemed happy to play the part of front-runner in the nearly two-hour debate, sponsored by Bloomberg News and The Washington Post. He joked breezily with the moderators, chided Perry for interrupting him and ignored him when quizzing other contenders.

Stealing a bit of attention from the debate, Romney picked up New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's endorsement a few hours before it began. Romney is hoping that endorsement, by a man considered a possible major contender until recently, will help cement his support among the establishment and nurture an image that he's the inevitable nominee.

Romney said no one likes the idea of bailing out big Wall Street firms. However, he said, many of the actions taken in 2008 and 2009 were needed to keep the dollar's value from plummeting and "to make sure that we didn't all lose our jobs."

Perry was not asked about the bailouts, but his campaign distributed his past statements saying "government should not be in the business of using taxpayer dollars to bail out corporate America."

Given a chance to assail Wall Street, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota blamed too much regulation. She also said Obama wants to let Medicare collapse, pushing everyone into "Obamacare," the health overhaul passed by congressional Democrats in 2010.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blamed Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke for the recession.

Also criticizing aspects of Obama's administration were Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.