The Times's Michael Luo has the goods on Mitt Romney's direct attack on Rudy Giuliani here. According to Luo, this is what Romney said at an "Ask Mitt Anything" event in New Hampshire:
In spending, how do you reign in government spending? I don't think there's any tool more important than the line item veto. I line item vetoed hundreds of items as governor of Massachusetts, hundreds. And that vehicle is the most powerful tool a president of the United States could have to rein in unnecessary pork barrel, earmark spending. Now Mayor Giuliani, as mayor, we had in the nation, while he was mayor, the line item veto passed. And President Clinton, a Democrat, got the line item veto and he started line item vetoing certain items. Mayor Giuliani, the mayor, fought the line item veto, went to court to stop the line item veto, went all the way to the Supreme Court to stop the line item veto, and he won. And because he won, he killed the line item veto. It is the single most important tool we have to stop excessive spending. And that was a serious mistake. I support the line item veto. I will fight for a line item veto which is deemed constitutional with some provisions now to account for the Supreme Court decision, to be able to have the president weigh in on excessive spending and earmarks and pork barrel spending.
It's probably a stretch to say that if it hadn't been for hizzoner, the Supreme Court would have ruled in favor of a line-item veto. But there's no question the attack stung. Within hours, the Giuliani campaign arranged for surrogate Paul Cellucci, Massachusetts's former governor, to attack Romney's fiscal record. Then the Giuliani campaign released a detailed comparison of New York under Giuliani with Massachusetts under Romney. Meanwhile, Romney's spokesman Kevin Madden issues a defense of Romney's tax record. Game on! This scuffle should make next week's GOP debate on the economy on CNBC all the more interesting.