Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty is making the most comprehensive pitch to the party’s fiscal conservatives with a detailed economic austerity and tax-reduction plan that would force dramatic government cuts. But while making a play for fiscal hawks, he also has risked the ire of seniors by saying he would support a partial privatization of the nation’s Medicare health insurance program for the elderly.
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has a big lead over the six rivals who will appear with him tonight on the Manchester stage, has been much less specific than Pawlenty. But what he has said thus far indicates that he would not cut taxes as deeply. And he has not said how he would deal with the skyrocketing costs of Medicare and other entitlement programs.
A Globe poll published yesterday showed that the economy, unemployment, and government spending are foremost on the minds of New Hampshire voters. The survey found that 85 percent of likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters surveyed said the deficit is a major problem that must be addressed immediately.
The poll also found that just 47 percent of the GOP voters blame Democrats for the weak economy, and analysts say GOP candidates will have to do more tonight than simply criticize President Obama on economic grounds.
“I’m more interested in the ability of these folks to provide a compelling vision for economic growth and prosperity, upward mobility, and the role of government in that,’’ said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office who was chief economic adviser to Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “We don’t need to cut entitlements; we need to reform them. I’m interested in what that vision looks like.’’
The debate will run from 8 to 10 p.m. in Manchester, and will be televised nationally by CNN.
The candidates will not just be fighting for attention among themselves, but with the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals will be aired at the same time.
