California Republican debate transcript

Moderator: Governor Gilmore, you know Karl Rove and you've worked with Karl Rove. Is Karl Rove your friend?

(Laughter)

Moderator: Do you want to keep him in the White House if you get elected president -- the president's chief political operative?

Gilmore: You know, at the end of the day, the responsibility for this government and for its policies rests with the president of the United States. And the president is able to choose the people that he wants to choose in order to implement his policy. The president has chosen Karl Rove.

Moderator: But you, as commander in chief and chief executive, would you employ Karl Rove?

Gilmore: It isn't a matter of Karl Rove. What's important to this nation is not Karl Rove.

(Laughter)

What's important to this nation and to this party is the acquisition of the philosophy and values that we are as Republicans.

There is a time now for us to reach out and to say that we're spending too much money in government, that it's taking too much of the resources of this nation, that we have got to do something about government spending, create more jobs and a higher revenue and a better opportunity, and thereby to cut taxes for regular people.

Gilmore: I did that as governor.

I'm a consistent conservative that keeps his word and does what he says that he's going to do.

Moderator: Thank you. Thank you, Governor.

Congressman Tancredo, that Karl Rove question, do you have an interest in answering that one?

Tancredo: Yeah. Karl Rove would certainly not be in the White House that I inhabited. We have had our differences for quite some time, specifically on the issue of immigration and my criticism thereof.

And as a matter of fact, this is as close as I've ever been to Air Force One.

(Laughter)

Moderator: Well, by the way, this isn't still the Air Force One.

Tancredo: To the replica...

(Crosstalk)

Tancredo: ... of Air Force One. Exactly.

Moderator: All right. Mayor Giuliani, I have to ask you the next question. Has the increased influence of Christian conservatives in your party been good for it?

Giuliani: Sure. The increased influence of large numbers of people are always good for us. I'd like to go back to the earlier question that you asked because I think it really is important that we, you know, define the Republican Party to fit today.

Neither party has a monopoly on virtue or vice. That's just a fallacy that we sometimes fall into. If we're going to win, and we're going to govern after we win, we have to reach out, bring in Democrats, bring in independents.

I ran a city that was five-to-one Democratic, and I was able to -- according to George Will, I ran the most conservative government in the last 50 years in New York City...

Moderator: Time...

Giuliani: ... reduced crime, reduced welfare, balanced the budget, lowered taxes 23 times.

Moderator: Mr. Mayor, it's time.

Giuliani: And I had 45 Democrats and I think six Republicans.

Moderator: OK.

Governor Thompson, same question. Well, actually, you could respond to just about anything at this point.

(Laughter)

Thompson: Well, Chris, then I will.

I'm the reliable conservative. I vetoed 1,900 things. I reduced taxes by $16.5 billion.

I'm from Wisconsin, a blue state, and I won four consecutive times. I still have a very high popularity appeal.

And I'm the one that started welfare reform, reduced the welfare caseload in the United States and the state of Wisconsin by 93 percent.

And I believe that kind of a record will attract Democrats and independents, if you stand up and start talking on principles and ideas.

Where I think the Republican Party lost its way is we went to Washington to change Washington -- Washington changed us. We forget to be coming up with new ideas, big ideas like Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan had an optimism and a belief that America could be stronger and better tomorrow than it is today, and he instilled that and inculcated that in every American. That's what we have to do as a party again.

Moderator: Thanks, Governor.

Senator Brownback: Jack Abramoff, Mark Foley, Duke Cunningham in prison for bribes. Just last month, FBI raids of two Republican members of Congress.

What's with your party and all this corruption?

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