Things to Watch in Tonight's Debate

Rivals don't exactly hammer the frontrunner in GOP debate

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney was supposed to be the prime target at tonight's ABC debate, but it didn't quite work out that way, writes Steve Peoples at AP . His rivals took some shots at him but squabbled among each other just as often. Romney, for his part, focused most of his fire at President Obama. ("His policies have made the recovery more tepid.") Romney "never appeared flustered," writes Michael D. Shear at the New York Times , and his display of "perfect calm" was tailor-made for a front-runner. "Shots so not fired," adds Elspeth Reeve at the Atlantic blog. Some notable moments:

• Paul-Santorum: Ron Paul accused Rick Santorum of being a "big-government person" who also was "corrupt" for taking lobbyists' money. Santorum called the corruption charge "ridiculous" and said his record was "pretty darn good."

Texas governor makes his presidential debate debut

(NEWSER) - Rick Perry made his debate debut tonight, and it's clear the new frontrunner is happy to mix it up. He and Mitt Romney went after each other with gusto, notes AP , as evidenced by an early exchange: After Perry criticized Romney's record of creating jobs in Massachusetts, Romney zinged back by saying that Perry taking credit for job growth in Texas is like Al Gore taking credit for the Internet. “Michael Dukakis created jobs three times faster than you did, Mitt,” Perry said. “As a matter of fact,” Romney retorted, “George Bush and his predecessor created jobs at a faster rate than you did, Governor.” Later, Perry called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," while Romney said, “Our nominee has got to be someone who isn’t committed to abolishing Social Security," notes Politico . More»

Front-runner stays above the fray as Minnesotans clash

(NEWSER) - Last night's GOP debate in Iowa was a testy affair, but Mitt Romney managed to stay above the fray and his front-runner status still isn't in doubt—at least until Rick Perry enters the race, pundits say.

• "Neither the candidates nor the moderators did much to draw blood" from Romney, who "sauntered unscathed through his second consecutive debate," writes Alexander Burns at Politico . Romney "stuck to narrow talking points" when asked about his taxation record in Massachusetts and the debt ceiling debate, and his answers weren't challenged, Burns notes.

Strong performance leaves Gingrich looking like top anti-Romney

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney emerged largely unscathed from last night's Republican debate in South Carolina, while consensus pegs Newt Gingrich as the best of the rest. A breakdown of the chatter:

• This was Gingrich's "best debate of the entire race," decides Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post . The former House Speaker "let ‘er rip tonight," he writes, winning applause from the boisterous audience for calling President Obama the "food stamp president" and for slamming "elites" and "liberals" who don't want to help poor people find good jobs.
• Writing at Hot Air , AllahPundit agrees, citing Gingrich's bold responses to Juan Williams and Ron Paul among his shining moments. "I’m thinking he might have turned South Carolina from a solid Romney lead into a nailbiter. Has any candidate at any debate had the crowd more riled up than this?" (Watch videos at left.)

Republican candidates stage new assault on front-runner

(NEWSER) - A new day, a new Republican presidential debate. Mitt Romney's opponents took another whack at him this morning after letting him off easy last night. A few takeaways:

• Most Romney attacks missed. Mitt held off assaults from Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, rarely getting flustered, Politico reports.