In Iowa tonight, a surging Newt Gingrich said he won’t meet Romney’s fire with fire. Read our just-filed report from Urbandale,Iowa.
Tonight’s debate starts at 9 PM Eastern on ABC. We’ll be covering it live here at TPM.
9:03 PM: Okay, that was kind of a weird opening. But whatever. Let’s do this thing.
9:04 PM: I think Newt just said that the Clinton economic plan was basically like Ronald Reagan’s.
9:09 PM: Feel like Perry’s becoming a sort of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern type figure in this debate play. Comic relief, vaguely ridiculous, sort of sinister but not much.
9:11 PM: Michele Bachmann think the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is a government agency? Wow.
9:15 PM: Diane Sawyer talks a really long time to answer a question. Eeessh.
9:16 PM: At least this was a good question, albeit talking quite a while to ask.
9:17 PM: Romney opens with new line: Payroll tax cut is a band-aid but I’m for it.
9:19 PM: That was a very weird exchange on the payroll tax issue. They put the question foursquare to the candidates. But somehow I came out not really knowing what anyone had said.
9:23 PM: So far, Mitt’s rushed and off his game. Newt’s response right now is quite good. All started off with that obvious but stinging line on the loss to Teddy Kennedy.
9:25 PM: Still hard for me to get a read on this debate. Newt’s defense is heavily aided by the clownish nature of his opponents. I’ve never been taken with this idea that Newt’s some kind of genius. I think he’s more pretentious than genius, though some people seem to confuse the two things. But look, he’s a smart guy. He’s a clever guy. And in most cases he can just dance around these folks without breaking a sweat — even when he’s pretty much wrong on the facts.
9:33 PM: Mitt taking some rare joy here watching Perry’s inept and ineffectual attack … the good ‘ole days.
9:36 PM: Not sure if you want to be Mr. Middle Class you offer up $10,000 bet. Bet your vacation house? Third house? Fine, yacht?
So far, more than a contentious debate I’ve found this a disjointed debate. I’ve had a hard time quite putting my finger on it. I think it’s because they’ve tried to give everyone questions but in fact focus everything on Mitt and Newt — which is where the focus belongs. And that’s just created this back and forth, helter skelter weirdness.
So far, though, I’d say this has been all win for Newt. No one’s really landed a punch. He’s had a number of good lines and seems clearly to be the most at ease person on the stage.
Mitt, meanwhile, had his $10,000 bet line which seems to be the big line of the night so far. And not in a good way.
9:50 PM: Mitt not very convincing blaming his Newt-attacking ad on Obama. Sorry, lame. Lame.
10:09 PM: Mitt: “I’m not a bombthrower.” Newt: “I will tell the truth even if it’s at the risk of causing some confusion sometimes with the timid.”
10:10 PM: This exchange over Israel is really the key exchange. From the point of view of the intended audience, I think both of them had good points. It pointed to a lot of Newt’s problems, but in a way that I’m not sure will damage him in a GOP primary audience. But Mitt got a chance — which he hadn’t remotely up till now — to make his basic point which is that Newt’s a “bombthrower”, a person who is just not temperamentally suited to be president — something that is unquestionably true.
10:22 PM: Marveling that Rick Perry — who actually grew up humble — managed to blow this question … Mitt’s answer, meanwhile, was about as good as he could do.
And here’s Mitt’s great $10k bet moment. A bit awkward and already been chewed up by Romney’s many foes.