GOP candidates trade barbs in Iowa debate

“You said ‘the era of small government was over,’ ’’ she said. “That sounds a lot like Barack Obama, if you ask me.’’

“She’s got a record of misstating and making false statements,’’ Pawlenty said.

Pawlenty, who has been criticized for being too timid, also came out of the gate with a zinger directed at the presumed front-runner, Mitt Romney. Pawlenty pledged to those watching the debate that he would mow their lawn if they could identify Obama’s plans on entitlement reform.

“But in case Mitt wins, I’m going to limit it to one acre,’’ Pawlenty said, in a reference to the former Massachusetts governor’s wealth.

Romney, when asked for a response, smiled tightly and said, “That’s just fine.’’

Romney was also criticized for not weighing in on the debt ceiling agreement until the last minute, when he opposed it.

He wouldn’t respond directly to the criticism, saying that he signed a pledge to cut current spending, cap future spending, and have a balanced budget amendment.

When pressed on whether he would have vetoed the plan, he said, “I’m not going to eat Barack Obama’s dog food. What he served up is not what I would have as president of the United States.’’

But Romney largely avoided any significant fire from his rivals and at times went for long stretches without speaking in the debate.

For Romney, the sparring actually began hours earlier when he found himself in an encounter with critics of his positions at the Iowa State Fair. Challenged to raise corporate taxes, Romney said “corporations are people, my friend’’ and fended off a pointed question about Social Security cuts.

The debate at Iowa State University marked the first gathering in two months for the Republican presidential field, and it comes at a time when there are wild swings in the stock market, a downgrade in the country’s credit rating, and a lingering partisan debate in Washington over raising the debt ceiling.