Surging Republican hopeful Marco Rubio has wilted under sustained attack in the latest US presidential debate, denting his stature going into this week’s New Hampshire primary dominated by frontrunner Donald Trump.

The fiery debate also saw Jeb Bush — whose dream of following his father and brother into the White House will likely live or die after Tuesday’s primary — step up his game and butt heads with Mr Trump over the use of eminent domain to seize private property.

A strong showing in New Hampshire would confirm Mr Rubio as the candidate-of-choice for the Republican nomination, but he was savaged at the debate by his rivals over his lack of experience.

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He retreated time and time again to canned statements from his stump speech and floundered on a debate stage where he often shines.

The Don returned after skipping last debate because of feud with Fox News. Photo: AAP

The most sustained attack was waged by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a no-nonsense former federal prosecutor who has campaigned hard in New Hampshire and denigrated Mr Rubio for being controlled by his team.

“Marco, the thing is this. When you’re president of the United States, when you’re a governor of a state, the memorised 30-second speech where you talk about how great America is at the end of it doesn’t solve one problem for one person,” Mr Christie said during one heated exchange early in the night.

Mr Rubio’s critics have made much of the fact that his experience is akin to that of Democratic President Barack Obama, elected in 2008 when a first-term senator.

Mr Rubio’s defence was that he has a different world view to Mr Obama, not that Mr Obama has simply led the country down the path it is on because of inexperience.

“Let’s dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing,” Mr Rubio said.

When Mr Rubio repeated the same line again, Mr Christie sought to reinforce the charge that Mr Rubio is so inexperienced that he relies on well-worn talking points and cannot think on his feet.

“There it is. There it is. The memorised 25-second speech. There it is, everybody,” Mr Christie said.

Mr Rubio repeated the line enough that someone created a Twitter profile called @RubioGlitch that repeated his line about Mr Obama.

While Mr Rubio recovered later in the debate, the timing of his performance was terrible, coming three days before New Hampshire Republicans register their choices in the nation’s second nominating contest. The debate was the last face-off of the candidates before the vote.

Mr Rubio’s tough moments may breathe new life into the campaigns of Mr Christie, former Florida Governor Mr Bush and Ohio Governor John Kasich, three experienced politicians who, like Mr Rubio, represent establishment Republicans.

All three have suffered from the dominance of front-runner Mr Trump in the Republican race.

They are badly in need of a breakout moment to change the trajectory of the battle in New Hampshire, where the polls show Mr Trump in the lead, Mr Rubio in second and Texas Senator Ted Cruz in third place.

Bush, Trump clash over ’eminent domain’

The crowd booed as Trump stated his support for public acquisition of private land. Photo: AAP

Mr Trump did not have his best debate. He looked flustered in a fight with Mr Bush over the use of eminent domain.

Mr Bush attacked Trump for using eminent domain, which allows governments to seize private lands for projects for the public good, to help him build casino complexes in Atlantic City.

“What Donald Trump did was use eminent domain to try to take the property of an elderly woman on the strip in Atlantic City. That is not public purpose. That is downright wrong,” Mr Bush said.

But Mr Trump said eminent domain was “a good thing” and was necessary to building roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.

“Certainly, it’s a necessity for our country. He wants to be a tough guy, and it doesn’t work very well,” Mr Trump said of Mr Bush, telling the former Florida governor to be quiet.

When the crowd booed, Mr Trump said: “That’s all his donors and special interests out there.”

Mr Trump seemed to do well enough to possibly win in what would represent his first victory of the 2016 race, erasing the pain from a loss in the Iowa caucus last week, where he finished second to Mr Cruz and just ahead of the surging Mr Rubio.

A victory in New Hampshire could put Mr Trump on track for more wins in South Carolina and beyond on the way to the November 8 election.

Mr Kasich, a Republican Governor from the swing state of Ohio, who is on the lookout to tap New Hampshire’s independent voters, also made a spirited pitch.

“If I get elected president, head out tomorrow and buy a seat belt, because there’s going to be so much happening in the first 100 days, it’s going to make your head spin,” he told the audience.

The debate got off to a chaotic start when retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, flagging in the polls, was filmed waiting in the wings as the announcers called him to the stage in vain.

“The acoustics back stage were horrible and there was too much noise out front so you just couldn’t hear,” he told AFP.

“I kept listening for my name, I didn’t hear it.”