GOP Hopefuls Face Off in 'Well-Mannered' Debate

The latest Republican debate has wrapped up, this one focused mostly on the economy and on the newest darling of the polls, Herman Cain. If Rick Perry was hoping to land a knockout punch on Mitt Romney, it never arrived. In fact, the night was "exceedingly well-mannered," notes Politico. (Click for analysis on who won and lost). Snippets of coverage:

• "As expected, Mr. Romney has become the focus of the questions from his rivals. But so far, they have had little luck knocking the Massachusetts governor off his stride." Michael D. Shear, New York Times.
• Laugh line: "I thought it was the price of a pizza when I first heard it," said Jon Huntsman of Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan. Cain fires back: "Nine-nine-nine will pass and it is not the price of a pizza. It starts with, unlike your proposals, throwing out the current tax code."
• Cain-Romney: "Can you name all 59 points in your 160-page economic plan?" Cain asked him. "Simple answers are often very helpful, but oftentimes inadequate," Romney replied.

• Perry-Romney: "Surprise, surprise: Perry asks Romney about Romneycare being the founding idea behind Obamacare. Romney defends his plan, saying it didn't affect people who already had health insurance. Then he tries to turn the question around, saying Texas has tons of uninsured kids." Elspeth Reeve, AtlanticWire.
• Bachmann-Romney: (Romney surprisingly addressed his one allowed question to Michele Bachmann.) He "wants to put Bachmann on the spot about how she would revive the economy. Why didn't he ask Perry? Maybe he doesn't want to give Perry any air time?" Patrick O'Connor, Wall Street Journal.
• Occupy Wall Street: "Newt Gingrich got visibly worked up in response to a question about the Occupy Wall Street protests. He attacked the idea that Wall Street bankers should go to jail for the economic crisis, calling out D.C. regulators—including former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank by name." Alexander Burns, Politico.
• AP's first paragraph: "Presidential challenger Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of failing to lead in a time of economic peril but sounded less conservative than his Republican rivals in their debate Tuesday night, defending the 2008-2009 Wall Street bailout and declaring he could work with 'good' Democrats."

(More Mitt Romney 2012 stories.)