Quite apart from the content, the questioners tonight are like a flashback from the previous decade.

We’re following every last development in the debate at TPMLivewire.

8:17 PM: Newt is so in his element tonight. He’s feeling his wheaties, able to get off his blunt comments and snark against a rival and managing a pretty good retort all in the process.

8:26 PM: That was weird. I think Herman Cain just said that he’d profile Muslims from the Arab world and South Asia but he says he’ll let the professionals tell him that it’s the Arabs and Pakistanis who need to be profiled.

Here’s what Cain said …

I believe we can do a whole lot better with TSA, and I call it targeted identification … Targeted identification. If you take a look at the people who have tried to kill us, it would be easy to figure out exactly what that identification profile looks like. But I want to make sure that i get to the patriot act

…

I happen to believe if you allow our intelligence agencies to do their job, they can come up with an approach … Wolf, what I’m saying is let’s ask the professionals to give us an approach of how we can increase the identification of people that might be a danger to civilians as well as a danger to this nation.

8:02 PM: So far I’m loving the Minority Reportish candidate bio interface and the Nukish debate intro. Reminding me of earlier epic debate intros from this season.

8:06 PM: Why is Wolf intro’ing these guys like the guy from Let’s Make a Deal?

8:07 PM: Who thought the singer looked like a genetically reengineered Rick Perry.

8:09 PM: Is Wolf on crack?

8:11 PM: Wait, that’s not Mitt’s name. Mitt’s first name is “Willard.”

A quick reminder that the GOP presidential candidates convene tonight in DC for a debate focused on national security (and foreign policy? or are we just doing the saber-rattling thing?). We’ve got you covered here from start to finish. Debate starts at 8 p.m. ET.

Benjy Sarlin tackles Mitt Romney’s totally deceptive new campaign ad in today’s Campaign In 100 Seconds.

Joe Lieberman demands that Google implement a system on its Blogger platform for users to flag “terrorist content.”

Reviewers at Amazon descend in mockery on the brand of pepper spray used on those students at UC Davis: “Accept no substitutes when casually repressing students … Whenever I need to breezily inflict discipline on unruly citizens.”

I mentioned earlier that it’s sort of amazing how misinformed Mort Zuckerman seems to be about what’s going on in the Washington fight over taxes and spending. On MSNBC Zuckerman insisted in high dudgeon that congressional Republicans had proposed $250 billion in tax hikes, most of which would be paid for by the wealthiest Americans. Here’s the clip and the facts.

It’s a challenge but Rick Santorum has managed to get significantly to the right of the current Israeli government on the question of the West Bank. Or arguably, it’s to the left. But Santorum is saying not only that all the West Bank is Israel (not a terribly controversial statement on the Israeli hard right) but that all the people living there are Israelis. Said Santorum: “If they want to negotiate with Israeli — with Israelis — all the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis, they’re not Palestinians. There is no ‘Palestinian.’ This is Israeli land.”