May 4 (Bloomberg) -- The 10 Republican presidential hopefuls mostly supported restricting abortion rights and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons during their first debate last night, while distancing themselves from President George W. Bush's policies.

Appearing together for the first time ahead of the 2008 primary elections, most of the candidates agreed on the importance of the U.S. prevailing in Iraq. Then they criticized the way Bush has handled the conflict.

``We must win in Iraq,'' Arizona Senator John McCain said. Without mentioning the president by name he said, ``The war was terribly mismanaged and now we have to fix a lot of the mistakes that were made.''

McCain and his top two rivals, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, also agreed that it's unacceptable for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

``It's the worst nightmare of the Cold War, isn't it?'' Giuliani, 62, said during the event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

As much as national security, the debate focused on social issues, particularly abortion. Giuliani stood out for taking a stance in favor of some abortion rights. The former mayor, who spoke out on issues such as fighting terrorism, needed several promptings before giving a clear answer on why he supported public funding for abortions in New York.

``I hate abortion,'' Giuliani said, after the moderator returned to him again for clarification on where he stood. ``But ultimately, since it is an issue of conscience, I would respect a woman's right to make a different choice.''

Stem Cells

Most of the presidential hopefuls, including Romney, said they also opposed federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells. McCain and Giuliani broke from the crowd to say they supported the work, with McCain saying it's a ``tough issue.''

Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, 65, was asked whether a private employer who finds homosexuality immoral should be able to fire a worker who's gay. Thompson, who said yes, later said in an interview that he misheard the question.

The debate, sponsored by MSNBC and the Politico.com, focused more on political issues than policy questions such as health care, education, China and immigration. The candidates were all asked to weigh in on whether it would be good for the country if former President Bill Clinton returned to the White House, whether former administration official I. Lewis Libby should receive a pardon, whether they believed in evolution and whether Congress was right to intervene in a family conflict over whether to keep Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman, alive.

Schiavo

Most of the candidates demurred on the question of the pardon and they were split on the Schiavo case. Romney, 60, and Giuliani both said Congress should not have interfered; McCain, 70, said he and other lawmakers should have taken more time to look at the issue. ``Probably we acted too hastily,'' he said.

When the candidates were asked if any of them didn't believe in evolution, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and Colorado Representative Thomas Tancredo raised their hands.

All the Republicans agreed, not surprisingly, that it would be a mistake for the former president to return to the White House because that would mean that his wife, Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, gets elected president.

Their Location

The candidates took full advantage of their location, invoking Reagan's name 19 times during the debate. By contrast, Bush's name came up only once, in response to the question about Libby, who was convicted of perjury and obstructing justice in a CIA leak probe. Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, also got one mention, as did Republican presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

The candidates also took opportunities to contrast their views with the Democrats. ``When you had this debate last week and all the Democrats were up here, I never remember the words `Islamic fundamentalist terrorism' being spoken by any of them'' Giuliani said. ``And I heard it a lot tonight.''

Disenchanted Electorate

The Republican candidates are struggling to appeal to an American electorate that is disenchanted with their party's president. Two-thirds of Americans now say the country is ``off on the wrong track,'' according to an April 20-23 Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released last week.

Giuliani led off the debate answering a question about how he would follow the ``Morning in America'' legacy of Reagan. ``What we can borrow from Ronald Reagan, since we are in his library, is that great sense of optimism that he had,'' he said.

By contrast there was little positive to say about the current president.

``Clearly, there was a real error in judgment,'' Huckabee, 51, said of Iraq. He said he would have fired former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld before last year's election instead of later as Bush did.

The U.S. didn't pay enough attention to the Middle East, said former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, 57. ``We're going to have to engage in the Middle East,'' and do it for an extended time, he said.

Different Approaches

When asked what they would do differently than Bush, McCain went back to the mismanagement of the war and said he would have vetoed spending bills; Huckabee said Bush erred in centralizing power in the federal government; Tancredo, 61, called Bush's education and Medicare initiatives ``overreaching.''

California Representative Duncan Hunter, 58, criticized Bush's trade policy; Brownback, 50, said he would pursue a ``political solution'' in Iraq; Texas Representative Ron Paul, 71, echoed the libertarian themes he voiced throughout the debate, sounding a warning about warrantless searches and foreign policy.

Only Giuliani used the question to praise the president, offering approval for the way Bush handled the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, without mentioning him by name.

``We had a president who made the right decision'' to go on offense, Giuliani said. ``History will remember him for that. And I think we as Republicans should remind people of that.''

Giuliani is leading in national polls even as McCain wins a larger share of support in early-voting states. Giuliani was backed by 33 percent of respondents in the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, compared with 22 percent for McCain and 12 percent for Romney. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who hasn't declared his candidacy, drew 17 percent.

Democrats

At a similar debate last week, the main Democratic presidential contenders also steered clear of attacking each other and kept their comments measured. Candidates in both parties are aware that any mistake they make may end up on the Internet and viewed by thousands within a few hours.

The debate may not have changed many minds, said Peter Hannaford, a consultant who served as an aide to Reagan when Reagan was governor and while he was running for president.

``The whole event was very civilized,'' Hannaford said. ``There was no clear winner here in the sense of racing way out ahead of the others.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@bloomberg.net; Kim Chipman in Washington at kchipman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 4, 2007 10:48 EDT