NASHUA, N.H. -- During a Republican gathering in the ballroom of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Nashua, an energized, confident bench of 19 presidential candidates and potential contenders took turns taking apart Hillary Rodham Clinton or competing with her on policy ideas.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky targeted Clinton on Saturday during the first high-profile political event since Clinton announced her Democratic bid for the White House on April 12.
He challenged her over the disintegration of Libya, her State Department emails and the Clinton Foundation's acceptance of contributions from foreign nations, including some with poor records on women's rights. But he was especially harsh when he talked about the insurgent attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that led to the death of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
"I think her dereliction of duty, her not doing her job" on Benghazi "should forever preclude her from holding high office," Paul said to a standing ovation.
But he didn't save all his barbs for Clinton.
Paul lashed out at military hawks in the Republican Party in a clash over foreign policy dividing the packed GOP presidential field. He said some of his Republican colleagues would do more harm in international affairs than Clinton.
"The other Republicans will criticize the president and Hillary Clinton for their foreign policy, but they would just have done the same thing -- just 10 times over," Paul said. "There's a group of folks in our party who would have troops in six countries right now, maybe more."
Foreign policy looms large in the presidential race as the U.S. struggles to resolve diplomatic and military conflicts across the globe.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina addressed the question of putting U.S. troops directly in the battle against Islamic State militants by saying there is only one way to defeat the militants: "You go over there and you fight them so they don't come here."
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas suggested an aggressive approach as well.
"The way to defeat ISIS is a simple and clear military objective," he said, referring to the Islamic State by a different name. "We will destroy them."
Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin said the threats posed by radical Islamic terrorism won't be handled simply with "a couple bombings."
"We're not going to wait till they bring the fight to us," Walker said. "We're going to bring the fight to them and fight on their soil."
There were few specifics offered in the conference, but the emphasis on foreign affairs suggests Clinton's time as secretary of state will play prominently in the contest.
While Clinton presented a fresher target, several Republicans chose to take on President Barack Obama's economic record and his engagement with Iran and Cuba.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida talked at length Friday about his record of creating jobs and increasing graduation rates. He presented an implied contrast not only with Clinton but also with less-experienced Republicans in the race.
"Accomplishment matters; leadership matters," Bush said. "Who sits behind the big desk as it relates to the presidency is different than perhaps United States senator or another job."
Bush also made a glancing comment about the scant Democratic opposition to Clinton, noting that he expected a tough fight for the Republican nomination.
"I don't see any coronation coming my way," he said.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida offered ideas for restructuring the nation's higher-education system, such as having colleges tell students how much money they might earn with certain degrees before they take out loans. But first, he warmed up the crowd by noting Clinton may try to raise as much as $2.5 billion for her campaign.
"That's a lot of Chipotle, my friends," he said to laughter.
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey did not mention Clinton once. He has not spent as much time in New Hampshire as some other candidates, and he chose to focus on introducing his own policy ideas, such as major changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
But Christie did take a shot at Obama.
"We can no longer afford to have weakness in the Oval Office," he said. "We need strength and clarity and hard truths."
The gathering was believed to be the first of its kind in New Hampshire. Its goal is to bring New Hampshire back to the Republican column in the 2016 general election, after Obama's victories in the state in 2012 and 2008 and John Kerry's narrow win over George W. Bush in 2004. Bush carried the state in 2000.
Operatives from the Republican National Committee expressed confidence they could damage Clinton with her record, especially at the State Department.
"On their side, they have Hillary or nothing," said Sean Spicer, the committee's communications director.
Information for this article was contributed by Patrick Healy and Jonathan Martin of The New York Times and by Steve Peoples, Julie Pace, Jill Colvin and Kathleen Ronayne of The Associated Press.
A Section on 04/19/2015