Orlando, Fla. ? Bashing each other’s conservative credentials, eight Republican presidential candidates met for the first time on a Florida stage in a prime-time Sunday debate that gave them a launching pad for crowd-pleasing shots at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

The debate marked the ninth time most of the candidates have met on national television, and it was one of their most contentious exchanges as they enter the 100-day countdown to Florida’s Jan. 29 primary.

In a race largely defined by which candidate can sell himself as the true conservative, the first 15 minutes of the debate were a four-man free-for-all among front-runner Rudy Giuliani and his closest rivals, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain.

Each fended off questions from Fox News moderators about a perceived vulnerability with the party’s conservative wing, and each tried to turn the tables on a rival.

“Governor Romney, you’ve been spending the last year trying to fool people about your record,” said McCain, referring to Romney’s changed positions on abortion and gay rights. “I don’t want you to start fooling them about mine.”

The Arizona senator got the only standing ovation of the night when he referred to his Vietnam War imprisonment, quipping that he was “tied up” during Woodstock.

Giuliani hit Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, calling him “the single biggest obstacle” to legislation that would make it harder to sue businesses and doctors.

Thompson came back at Giuliani, ticking off liberal stances he took as New York City mayor to promote gun control and keep city officials from reporting illegal immigrants seeking social services.

“He simply sides with Hillary Clinton on each of these issues I mentioned,” Thompson said.

The debate capped a two-day state GOP convention where many of the activists said they had not settled on a candidate. Giuliani tops the polls in Florida, but his edge is narrower than Clinton’s commanding lead in the state over her Democratic rivals.

In contrast to a widely panned performance the night before in which Thompson addressed the convention for less than five minutes, the sometime actor seemed animated and confident. Asked to respond to the charge that he’s “lazy,” Thompson recounted a long biography marked by teenaged fatherhood and stints as a federal prosecutor and senator.

“If a man can do all that and be lazy, I recommend it to everybody,” Thompson said – though he left out his long career as a lobbyist. He added – getting in the last word of the night – that he’s a father of five, with two children under the age of 4.

Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, got in one of the best one-liners: “When Hillary’s name is mentioned, it gets louder than an Aerosmith concert.” In all, the GOP candidates mentioned the name “Hillary” 24 times. McCain was the only one to say he respects her.

Huckabee and the other three candidates struggled for attention, as they have at previous debates. But they brought a fresh batch of ideas to the fore and tried to avoid personal attacks.

“I’m kind of glad I wasn’t in on the first few minutes because it was all about these guys fighting each other,” Huckabee said. “What I’m interested in is fighting for the American people, and I think they’re looking for a presidential candidate who’s not so interested in a demolition derby against the other people in his own party.”