LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – A confident Mitt Romney criticized his Republican rivals and fended off attacks on immigration and healthcare on Tuesday at a debate that could help reinstall him as the party’s presidential front-runner.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, overshadowed businessman Herman Cain and Texas Governor Rick Perry, his two main challengers for the nomination to take on President Barack Obama in 2012.

Seeking to convince sceptical conservatives to get behind him, Romney fought off attacks from Perry, who brought up an old charge that he hired illegal immigrants to cut his lawn.

After a testy exchange, Romney hit back.

“Texas has had a 60 percent increase in illegal immigrants in Texas. If there’s someone who has a record as governor with regards to illegal immigration that doesn’t stand up to muster, it’s you, not me,” he said.

Polls show Romney has the best chance of any Republican of defeating Obama, whose approval ratings have dropped as he struggles to revive the economy and cut the unemployment rate from 9 percent.

But pizza magnate Cain has headed recent polls of Republicans, many of whom think Romney is not conservative enough to deserve the nomination.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Upstart Republican front-runner Herman Cain on Tuesday came under sharp attack from his rivals at a 2012 debate and struggled to explain his tax reform plan, the signature proposal of his campaign.

Cain, the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO who has shot to the top of Republican opinion polls, found himself the target at the CNN-sponsored debate, where his rivals began to take him seriously after believing he would simply fade as time wore on.

Cain insisted his 9-9-9 plan to reduce personal income and corporate taxes to 9 percent and create a 9 percent national sales tax would not raise taxes on middle-income Americans despite expert analysis that it would.

But instead of specifically explaining how his plan would bring in more revenue than the current tax system and why middle Americans would not pay higher taxes, he simply said his rivals were wrong and that they should read through his plan on his campaign website.

“That simply is not true,” he said at one point. “I invite people to look at our analysis which we make available.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has faded behind the leaders based on four prior shaky debate performances, was not convinced.

“Herman, I love you brother, but let me tell you something. You don’t need to have a big analysis to figure this out,” said Perry, who showed a more robust performance in the debate’s early stages.

LAS VEGAS, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Unlikely Republican front-runner Herman Cain faces close scrutiny on Tuesday when the party’s hopefuls for U.S. president in 2012 debate in a gambling city famed for separating winners from losers.

Cain will be in the spotlight when candidates face off in a CNN-sponsored debate in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. eastern time (0000 GMT), but his is not the only significant storyline.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has to sell himself to conservative voters who have been looking for an alternative.

Many political experts believe Romney will ultimately be the Republican nominee to face Democratic President Barack Obama next year, but he has a long way to go yet.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, a staunch conservative, has to prove he can hold his own on stage with his main rivals after four shaky debate performances that knocked him out of the front-runner position.

Cain, a former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive and motivational speaker, has shot to the top of polls of Republican voters based on the simplicity of his “9-9-9″ proposal to overhaul the U.S. tax code.

Experts have questioned whether his idea to cut personal income and corporate taxes to 9 percent, while creating a 9-percent national sales tax, would in fact raise taxes on lower- and middle-income Americans, hurting the most needy.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Unlikely Republican front-runner Herman Cain faces close scrutiny on Tuesday when the party’s hopefuls for U.S. president in 2012 debate in a gambling city famed for separating winners from losers.

Cain will be in the spotlight when candidates face off in a CNN-sponsored debate in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. eastern time (0000 GMT) but his is not the only significant storyline.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney still has to sell himself to conservative voters who have been looking for an alternative.

Many political experts believe Romney will ultimately be the Republican nominee to face Democratic President Barack Obama next year but he has a long way to go yet.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, a staunch conservative, has to prove he can hold his own on stage with his main rivals after four shaky debate performances that knocked him out of the front-runner position.

Cain, a former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive and motivational speaker, has shot to the top of polls of Republican voters based on the simplicity of his “9-9-9″ growth plan that would overhaul the U.S. tax code.

Experts have questioned whether his idea to cut personal income and corporate taxes to 9 percent, while creating a 9 percent national sales tax, would in fact raise taxes on lower- and middle-income Americans, hurting the most needy.

WEST MIFFLIN, Pennsylvania, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry outlined plans on Friday to dramatically increase U.S. energy production and create 1.2 million jobs, taking aim at federal regulations he said are strangling the economy.

Perry’s announcement at a U.S. Steel plant in a suburb near Pittsburgh came as the Texas governor seeks to shore up his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination after a series of shaky debate performances and distractions knocked him out of the front-runner position.

Perry said if elected in November 2012 he would sign a series of executive orders in the first 100 days of his administration to roll back federal regulations and open up more areas for oil and gas exploration.

He would repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority over greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and eliminate all current and planned EPA programs to restrict carbon dioxide emissions.

“We are standing atop the next American economic boom – energy,” Perry said. “The quickest way to give our economy a shot in the arm is to deploy American ingenuity to tap American energy. But we can only do that if environmental bureaucrats are told to stand down.”

Perry sprinkled his remarks with a harsh denunciation of Democratic President Barack Obama, who he said is responsible for “activist regulations” that have made it more difficult to extract energy resources. Obama has favored green technologies that are not producing as many jobs as promised, he said.

“His energy policies are driven by the concerns of activists in his party, my policies are driven by the concerns of American workers without jobs,” Perry said.

WEST MIFFLIN, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry will outline a plan on Friday to boost U.S. oil and gas exploration that he says will create 1.2 million jobs.

The Texas governor, who is looking to rebound from a series of recent struggles, is to appear at a steel mill in the Pittsburgh suburbs to promote the first part of an economic growth package.

Perry is to call for rolling back some federal regulations and opening up more federal lands for energy exploration and production, particularly for natural gas.

“We are standing atop the next American economic boom — energy,” Perry will say. “The quickest way to give our economy a shot in the arm is to deploy American ingenuity to tap American energy. But we can only do that if environmental bureaucrats are told to stand down.”

After some shaky debate performances and other distractions, Perry has fallen behind front-runners Mitt Romney and Herman Cain in opinion polls of Republicans who are seeking to determine who their nominee will be to oppose Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.

Perry, however, has strong backing from many conservatives and raised $17 million in the third quarter of this year, ensuring he will have a well-funded campaign to wage battles in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

In excerpts of his speech released by his campaign, Perry will say his plan can largely be carried out through a series of executive orders without requiring congressional approval.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mitt Romney has the lantern-jawed look of a president, he has a well-funded campaign and is increasingly backed by the Republican machine. So why hasn’t he locked up the 2012 nomination battle?

Another reminder of Romney’s shaky standing among the Republican party base came on Thursday in an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that said businessman Herman Cain had surged past Romney, 27 percent to 23 percent for Romney.

This makes Cain the latest alternative to Romney, succeeding Texas Governor Rick Perry and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann as the darling of conservatives who have yet to fall in love with Romney.

“At the end of the day, conservatives are still looking for an alternative,” said Ed Rollins, a veteran Republican strategist who was Bachmann’s campaign manager.

Cain is unlikely to have the staying power to win the nomination despite his down-to-earth style and his simple “9-9-9″ plan to scrap the federal tax code and replace it with 9 percent taxes on corporations, income and sales.

The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO has little in the way of financing or organization. Rival campaigns and the media are now poring over his new autobiography “This is Herman Cain!” and remarks he made in the past for sticks to hit him with.

Among possible weak spots for Cain are comments in 2008 that downplayed the deep economic crisis then unfolding as an “imaginary recession.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – If Rick Perry is going to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, he’ll have to do it based on something other than his debate performances.

The Texas governor fought his way through another two-hour session as his top rivals, Mitt Romney and Herman Cain, coasted through relatively unscathed, scoring points, defending their plans.

Perry avoided major stumbles that afflicted him at three previous debates, but he did not take advantage of opportunities to land punches on Romney. He specifically did not carry out a sustained assault on the healthcare plan that Romney developed as governor of Massachusetts.

Perry, popular with social conservatives looking for a Romney alternative, cannot be written off. His $17 million raised in the third quarter of this year was a powerful testament to his ability to fully fund a campaign in the early voting states.

But he may have missed an opportunity to claw back some ground lost to Romney in national polls of Republican voters, after bursting onto the scene in first place in August only to fall behind former Massachusetts Governor Romney and businessman Cain.

“I thought he was rather cautious and I think because of that he was treated as somewhat of an afterthought,” said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

The stage was set for a big Perry attack on Romney when NBC News reported earlier in the day that Romney healthcare advisers had met with President Barack Obama’s healthcare team during the time that Obama was developing the overhaul that conservatives want to repeal.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – If Rick Perry is going to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, he’ll have to do it based on something other than his debate performances.

The Texas governor fought his way through another two-hour session as his top rivals, Mitt Romney and Herman Cain, coasted through relatively unscathed, scoring points, defending their plans.

Perry avoided major stumbles that afflicted him at three previous debates, but he did not take advantage of opportunities to land punches on Romney. He specifically did not carry out a sustained assault on the healthcare plan that Romney developed as governor of Massachusetts.

Perry, popular with social conservatives looking for a Romney alternative, cannot be written off. His $17 million raised in the third quarter of this year was a powerful testament to his ability to fully fund a campaign in the early voting states.

But he may have missed an opportunity to claw back some ground lost to Romney in national polls of Republican voters, after bursting onto the scene in first place in August only to fall behind former Massachusetts Governor Romney and businessman Cain.

“I thought he was rather cautious and I think because of that he was treated as somewhat of an afterthought,” said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

The stage was set for a big Perry attack on Romney when NBC News reported earlier in the day that Romney healthcare advisers had met with President Barack Obama’s healthcare team during the time that Obama was developing the overhaul that conservatives want to repeal.

, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney vowed on Friday that if elected he would ensure U.S. military supremacy worldwide in a speech aimed at demonstrating he has ample foreign policy credentials.

Romney’s appearance at the Citadel military college was an effort to assure Republicans that he would pursue an aggressive U.S. role in an unsettled world and reverse what they feel has been an American retrenchment under Democratic President Barack Obama.

“This century must be an American century,” Romney said. “In an American century, America leads the free world and the free world leads the entire world.”

Romney, a former businessman who was also Massachusetts governor, has little foreign policy experience. He has packed his national security team with former aides to Republican President George W. Bush.

Some of his policies sounded similar to those of Bush, who launched costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Romney, lest he be compared unfavorably to Bush, said he would employ “all the tools of statecraft” to shape threatening situations before they demand military action.

“The United States should always retain military supremacy to deter would-be aggressors and to defend our allies and ourselves. If America is the undisputed leader of the world, it reduces our need to police a more chaotic world,” he said.

The Democratic National Committee immediately dismissed Romney’s foreign policy vision with a memo entitled: “Romney Welcomes Back The Same Foreign Policy Geniuses Who Led Us Into Iraq.”