But Ambatchmasterpublisher 101

There ambatchmasterpublisher was no clear winner from the latest debate - at least for the group of 20 Republicans gathered to watch in a diner in a small town in New Hampshire.

But ambatchmasterpublisher what was important was that they had come together to watch it.

The ambatchmasterpublisher recently re-formed Peterborough Republican Town Committee sees a challenge ahead, both in its town of about 6,000 people and across the state

That ambatchmasterpublisher challenge is to recapture the ground the party is increasingly losing to the Democrats, in what has historically been a conservative stronghold.

Although both ambatchmasterpublisher enators are Republican, New Hampshire has a Democratic governor and last year the Democrats took control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time in almost a century.

As the 10 ambatchmasterpublisher candidates were pressed for their answers at St Anselm College, Manchester - on the Iraq war, immigration, ethical issues and health care - the audience 40 miles (65km) away in Brady's American Diner listened attentively.

What they ambatchmasterpublisher were hoping to find was a strong leader who was prepared to take the party back to its conservative roots and stand up for its principles.

Election angst ambatchmasterpublisher

Some felt former ambatchmasterpublisher New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had performed well, but that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney had disappointed.

"I was certainly ambatchmasterpublisher very much for Mitt Romney, but I think that I may vote for Giuliani now," said Dario Carrara. "It depends on the polls, but he did a good job tonight."

How Mr Giuliani performs in the primary elections early next year could depend on whether there has been another national security alert, at which point his experience as mayor after 9/11 could count, added Susan Clark ambatchmasterpublisher
Most agreed that in this debate, the third for their party's candidates, the majority of the so-called second-tier contenders had acquitted themselves well.

But what they fear is that it ambatchmasterpublisher may take more than good debate skills to pull the Republican Party out of the fire, faced with an increasingly powerful Democratic opposition.

"When I came here 30 years ago from Massachusetts, this area was quite conservative," said committee chair Hope Taylor.

"Now the liberal ambatchmasterpublisher bastion has taken over the whole area and they have become very organised.

"If we don't get organised as individuals and as a group - as a Republican Party - then we are going to be run over."

'Not conservative enough'

In Peterborough, many Republicans believe the party faces a challenge because of its image in the state and elsewhere, as approval ratings for President George W ambatchmasterpublisher remain low and an unpopular war drags on.

"It's not popular to be a Republican," said Karl Eckilson.

Others in the group say they prefer not to go into town these ambatchmasterpublisher days to avoid arguments with Democrats who refuse to listen to any views but their own.

As for the opinions expressed by the candidates, there was some disappointment in Peterborough that so much time had been spent on Iraq and immigration and that a broader range of questions had not been asked.

The immigration issue ambatchmasterpublisher brought some of the most heated remarks of the debate, with Arizona Senator John McCain rebutting criticism from all sides of the bipartisan immigration plan he has co-sponsored in the Senate.

Mr Giuliani described the legislation as a "typical Washington mess".

Mr Romney declined to attack Mr McCain, calling him a friend, but still criticised the proposed "Z visas" for illegal immigrants already resident in the US.

Overall the candidates ambatchmasterpublisher were less adversarial than in the previous debate, although they did spare a moment to dismiss the conservative credentials of Fred Thompson, the senator-cum-actor who intends to enter the race but was not on stage.

"If you're talking ambatchmasterpublisher about a reliable conservative, it is this Thompson, Tommy Thompson, not the other, that's the conservative," said former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson.

What is apparent is ambatchmasterpublisher that many Republican supporters are yet to be convinced that any of those on offer offers that particular blend of conservatism behind which they can unite.

And while not everyone blames President ambatchmasterpublisher for the party's current woes, some in Peterborough, at least, sympathised with the view of Congressman Tom Tancredo's, who said the president "ran as a conservative and governed as a liberal".

"George W ambatchmasterpublisher has lost different segments [of the Republican base]," said Dario Carrara.

"He's lost ambatchmasterpublisher different groups for different reasons - but if he would just act as a conservative, his approval rating would go up straight away."


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