The Republican presidential candidates are starting to move on from attacking Barack Obama for his handling of the economy to drawing differences with each other on the best way to promote jobs and growth.

The distinctions, on everything from which taxes to cut and by how much, to how much to reduce government spending, have emerged as the candidates have begun to fill in the details of some of their plans.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, the front-runner in opinion polls, has so far been the least specific about the policies he’d pursue. That’s left his rivals plumbing the book he released in November 2010, entitled “Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington,” for clues on his views. Among his suggestions there: getting rid of the current tax code entirely.

The philosophical underpinnings of the candidates’ positions are “pretty much cut from the same cloth,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who served as economic adviser to Arizona Senator John McCain in the last presidential campaign. They attack President Obama’s economic policies and advocate smaller government, lower taxes and less regulation. They’ve also been critical of the Federal Reserve.

“They’re all going to have to come out with more specifics on what they’re going to do,” said Gregory Valliere, chief political strategist with the Potomac Research Group in Washington. “That’s where some differences will come out.”

Detailed Plan

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is running second to Perry in polls, has the most detailed plan to date, a 59-point program that includes proposals on everything from worker training programs to visas for skilled immigrants. The net result, he says: annual economic growth of 4 percent.

“If you’d hired McKinsey, this is the plan you’d get,” said Kevin Hassett, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, referring to consultants McKinsey & Co. Romney, 64, is the former chief executive of the investment firm Bain Capital LLC.

Taxes -- and the need to reduce them -- are once again a centerpiece in the Republican campaign. What’s different is the focus on corporate and capital gains taxes, rather than on household income taxes, said Michael Tanner, senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington.

“It reflects the economic times and the idea that we’re talking about job creation,” Tanner said.
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