Huck has Chuck and now Mac has Sly.

(CNN) — Earlier this week, martial arts star Chuck Norris questioned John McCain's ability to serve as president, because of the Arizona senator's age — at 72, he'd be the oldest first-term president in American history.

At Thursday night's debate, McCain had a response for the action star, who has endorsed Republican rival Mike Huckabee:

"Now that Sylvestor Stallone has endorsed me, I'm sending him over to take care of Chuck Norris right away."

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

The GOP presidential hopefuls debated in Florida prior to the state's primary. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

(CNN) – The Republican presidential candidates seemed to distance themselves from the Bush administration's economic policies just hours after the president gave his approval to a stimulus package meant to boost the fragile U.S. economy.

During their Thursday debate, the Republican White House hopefuls faulted the president for unrestrained government spending over the last seven years.

Bush "signed into law two years in a row pork-laden bills…which are outrageous," said John McCain, who said he'd restore "fiscal discipline" to Washington.

Mitt Romney said he would "run away" from the high-spending, high-deficit record of Washington.
"They said they'd rein in spending," he said. "But somehow, every year more and more money goes in."

Mike Huckabee chimed in with a populist theme, saying the government should to pay more attention to Americans living paycheck to paycheck.

"I think people need in the president, is somebody who understands the totality of the American family, and not just the folks at the top," Huckabee said.

Rep. Ron Paul said what the country needed was a return to the "old-fashioned Republican program" of cutting taxes and reducing the size of government.

"I can't be identified with this," Paul said of the economic troubles plaguing the country. "I was waving the flag the whole time, saying, 'Slow up, slow up.'"

–CNN Associate Producer Rachel Streitfeld

Mitt Romney tried to distance himself from the Bush administration's economic record.

 (CNN) – He may be the leader of the Republican Party, but President Bush’s name has seldom been uttered during a recent GOP presidential debate.

When asked Thursday if he’d run on the Bush record, Mitt Romney demurred, saying he’d instead run against Washington because the government is "fundamentally broken."

"When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses," he said.

The two national frontrunners won the endorsement of the New York Times (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

(CNN) — The New York Times is endorsing hometown senator Hillary Clinton, but picked Republican John McCain over former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, for their party's presidential nominations in editorials published on the paper's Web site Thursday night, moments before the Republican presidential debate in Florida began.

The editorial board — which frequently clashed with Giuliani during his two mayoral terms — devoted the heart of its endorsement of McCain to a brutal repudiation of the New York Republican. "The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. …Mr. Giuliani’s arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking.

"The Rudolph Giuliani of 2008 first shamelessly turned the horror of 9/11 into a lucrative business, with a secret client list, then exploited his city’s and the country’s nightmare to promote his presidential campaign."

The paper said it disagreed with McCain over many issues but that "with a record of working across the aisle to develop sound bipartisan legislation, he would offer a choice to a broader range of Americans than the rest of the Republican field."

On the Democratic side, the Times called Clinton "the best choice for the Democratic Party as it tries to regain the White House."

It said Barack Obama had built an "exciting campaign around the notion of change, but holds no monopoly on ideas that would repair the governing of America."

Clinton, wrote the editorial board, "sometimes overstates the importance of résumé," but "hearing her talk about the presidency, her policies and answers for America’s big problems, we are hugely impressed by the depth of her knowledge, by the force of her intellect and by the breadth of, yes, her experience.

"We know that she is capable of both uniting and leading."

The Times, which backed Clinton in both her 2000 and 2006 Senate bids, also urged her to "take the lead in changing the tone of the campaign."

New York's voters head to the polls on Super Tuesday, February 5.

UPDATE: Shortly after the endorsement was posted, several opposing campaigns, including Rudy Giuliani's, issued releases highlighting it — since the support of the paper's liberal editorial board is not necessarily a helpful one for a GOP presidential candidate.

The Giuliani campaign even included a link to the article — despite the piece's attacks on the former mayor and his record.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Did you miss Wednesday’s afternoon GOP debate in Iowa? No problem, we've got you covered.

Just download the latest episode of The Best Political Podcast and let the Best Political Team on TV catch you up. John King covers the debate, Bill Schneider breaks down the latest CNN poll numbers out of New Hampshire — you may be surprised by the results — Mike Huckabee has an apology to share with Wolf Blitzer, and Candy Crowley looks ahead to Thursday’s Democratic debate in Iowa. Plus, we take a look at the hottest stories percolating on the Political Ticker.

Watch an episode, or better yet, take a load off your mind, and subscribe — then the podcast will automatically get delivered to your iPod every evening.

Click here to subscribe to The Best Political Podcast

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

Watch George Allen's Situation Room interview.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — In this video clip, former Sen. George Allen of Virginia speaks with CNN’S Wolf Blitzer about Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

Allen, a co-chairman of Thompson’s presidential campaign, discusses Thompson’s performance during Wednesday’s CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate and a Thompson ad targeting GOP rivals Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney that the Thompson campaign submitted to CNN for the YouTube debate.

Allen, whose 2006 Senate re-election bid was undone by his "macaca" video moment distributed via YouTube, tells Blitzer he thinks the Internet’s impact on politics is good for American democracy. “The more that people are informed and have access to information and ideas, the better,” says Allen, likening the Internet to the printing press. Allen also talks with Blitzer about whether he will ever run for political office again. Watch Allen’s Situation Room interview.

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

Watch Dana Bash's report about how a group of undecided GOP voters reacted to Wednesday's debate.

(CNN) — As the country watched Wednesday night's CNN/YouTube Republican debate, CNN had a group of 24 undecided GOP voters react to the debate in real-time through devices called "peoplemeters."  In this report, Dana Bash takes a look at how key moments from the debate were received by the undecided voters.

Related video: Gauging Thompson on abortion

Related video: Enact the fair tax

Related video: Immigration a heated topic

Romney and Giuliani tussled over immigration at the beginning of the debate.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — In the first moments of the CNN/YouTube debate, sparks flew between former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on the issue of so-called sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants.

After Romney attacked Giuliani for saying New York was not a sanctuary city, Giuliani responded by saying Romney lived in a "sanctuary mansion" and that Romney employed illegal immigrants at his own home.

Romney denied the allegations.

Full story

– CNN Political Assignment Editor Katy Byron

Watch the candidates debate immigration.

(CNN) – Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee jumped into the immigration showdown with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, saying that although immigrants are part of what makes the United States a great nation, "It's our home. We now get to decide who comes into our home. To place somebody above [those waiting for legal immigration] or in front of them in line is the wrong thing to do."

Thompson said federal funding should be cut off to cities that provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

Thompson also took a jab at Giuliani, who bashed Romney for employing illegal immigrants, and defended his own record of employee scandals.

"I think we've all had people probably that we've hired that in retrospect probably was a bad decision," Thompson said, referring to a campaign fundraiser and personal friend who resigned from the Thompson campaign because of drug-related crimes and issues with the IRS.

– CNN Associate Producer Natalie Apsell

Thompson took aim at Romney and Giuliani early Wednesday night.

(CNN) — In his first at-bat of the night, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee didn't hesitate to go after two of his main rivals, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In response to a question about immigration, Thompson accused Romney of supporting President George W. Bush's failed immigration reform plan, and then shifting positons. He then joined Romney in going after Giuliani by also labeling New York a sanctuary city while Giuliani was mayor.

– CNN Nevada Producer Alexander Marquardt

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, on the left, introduced the GOP presidential candidates on Wednesday night.

(CNN) – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist introduced the eight participants in the debate in his hometown of St. Petersburg.

Crist introduced them in the order of the positions they took on the stage, from right to left: Rep. Duncan Hunter of California; Rep. Ron Paul of Texas; Sen. John McCain of Arizona; former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee; former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York; former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts; former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado.

Each candidate greeted Crist with a smile and a handshake before lining up for a group photograph.

– CNN writer Jim Kavanagh

Chris Nandor used his YouTube submission to perform an ode to the GOP presidential field.

(CNN) — The first YouTube video clip shown at Wednesday night's debate was not a question. Instead, it was an opportunity for one voter to handicap the Republican presidential candidates in song.

– CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

The GOP candidates on stage in Orlando.

ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) — The leading Republican presidential candidates intensified their fight over who has the true conservative credentials in sometimes contentious debate Sunday night.

A more aggressive Fred Thompson compared Rudy Giuliani’s social positions with Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, and implied Mitt Romney once held more liberal stands than Senator Ted Kennedy.

Asked if Romney and Giuliani has convinced him they were consistent conservatives, the former Tennessee Senator said, “Well, we've got an hour and a half. Maybe they can work on it.”

Giuliani tried to turn the tables on Thompson, saying, “you know, Fred has his problems, too. I mean, Fred was the single biggest obstacle to tort reform in the United States Senate. He stood with Democrats over and over again. …Fred Thompson, along with very few Republicans, blocked tort reform over and over and over again. That is not a conservative position.”

Defending his own record a day after finishing near the bottom of a conservative voters straw poll, the former New York City mayor, said, “I think it was good conservative record. I think, in every case, you can always find one exception or two to someone being absolutely conservative or absolutely this or absolutely that, but I think I had a heck of a lot of conservative results.”

In another skirmish, Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, blasted Romney for claiming to be the only real Republican in the field. He said, “Governor Romney, you've been spending the last year trying to fool people about your record. I don't want you to start fooling them about mine. I stand on my record. I stand on my record of a conservative, and I don't think you can fool the American people. I think the first thing you'd need is their respect.”

Click here to see CNN's new political portal: CNNPolitics.com
Read the rest of this entry »