Rivals defend attacks on Mitt Romney in GOP debate

Newt Gingrich defended the questions he’s raised about Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital while Rick Perry called on the GOP front-runner to offer greater disclosure of his finances as the Republican presidential candidates began the first of two debates before what could be the decisive nominating contest in South Carolina on Saturday.

Perry, the Texas governor, urged Romney to release his tax returns so that Republican voters could fully vet the candidate they will put up against President Obama this fall.

“As Republicans, we can’t fire our nominee in September. We need to know now,” Perry said.

PHOTOS: Republican presidential debate

Gingrich was questioned at the outset about his attacks on Romney’s business record, after having promised earlier in the campaign to resist media-driven efforts to have Republicans violate their party’s so-called 11th commandment.

The former House speaker said that, having been on the receiving end of millions of dollars in attack ads in Iowa, he could not “unilaterally disarm” and that he was raising legitimate questions about a competitor.

“Raising those questions, giving him an opportunity to answer them, is exactly what campaigns ought to be about. And we need to satisfy the country that whoever we nominate has a record that can stand up to Barack Obama in a very effective way,” he said.

Romney said you never “want to see an enterprise go bankrupt and you never want to see anyone lose a job.” And he defended his tenure at the private equity firm Bain Capital and as Massachusetts governor, presenting his time in both roles as offering a template for how he would lead the country as president.

“I think that if people want to have someone who understands how the economy works, having worked in the real economy, that I’m the guy that can best post up against Barack Obama,” he said.

The debate, cosponsored by Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, comes on the day the Republican field shrank by one. Jon Huntsman Jr. announced this morning in Myrtle Beach that he would abandon his bid for the White House and back Romney.

Just a week ago Huntsman had Romney in his cross hairs, accusing him of putting politics ahead of his country.