9:01 PM: I think Ron Paul just said that 9/11 was caused by excessive government regulation. And let’s not forget the Ron Paul classic from earlier in the debate: we don’t need an FAA. The private sector should take over air traffic control.

9:09 PM: Perry: President Obama “an abject liar.”

9:09 PM: Interesting question from TPM Reader JB: “So who wins the George Hamilton/Ricardo Montalban lookalike contest, Romney or Huntsman? Can’t you just see Romney saying Corinthian Leather?”

9:12 PM: Email just sent out by Romney campaign: “PERRY DOES NOT BELIEVE SOCIAL SECURITY SHOULD EXIST”

9:18 PM: Yep, I think the border fence is a bad idea too. But just not thinking it’s going to be used to keep Americans from “leaving with their capital” when the feds decide to round us up and put us in FEMA concentration camps. Yep, Ron Paul’s nuts.

9:20 PM: Watch the video of Romney and Perry sparring on jobs.

9:25 PM: I think Michele Bachmann just said that Ronald Reagan wouldn’t allow any mix of tax increases with spending cuts because the actual Ronald Reagan made a 3:1 deal. In other words, because Ronald Reagan did do it, “Ronald Reagan” would not do it.

9:31 PM: Key moment. Romney defends Social Security against Perry’s attacks.

9:35 PM: Jon Huntsman defending science on stage at GOP event and the crowd goes silent like a candidate were forced to explain a NAMBLA membership.

9:42 PM: Another great growing conservative meme: lack of patriotism of poor and lower middle class that isn’t paying income tax.

There wasn’t quite as much pyrotechnics as one might have expected or as folks in the press probably would have liked. But on balance I’d say this was a strategic victory for Mitt Romney, even if it doesn’t show up immediately in the polls. Mitt didn’t do anything that amazing himself. But Perry doubled down, maybe tripled down on his frontal attack on Social Security and science in general. Romney moved in, in essence, to egg him on in that process. And the Romney press office let loose a fusillade of attacks in emails to the press.

Again, this stuff doesn’t hurt with base Republicans necessarily, certainly not the folks who show up at debates. But these are real problems in a general election. And the Romney campaign will us these quotes to make the case against Perry on the grounds of electability.

So tonight, Perry played pretty well. But I think in the big picture, it was a better debate for Mitt Romney.

In the previous post, I said that tonight was a strategic victory for Mitt Romney and a setback for Rick Perry. The rejoinder I’m hearing from a lot of smart people is that those points are about a general election — not a Republican primary election, which is what this is. I don’t think that’s quite true in this case — the contrary argument being that Republican primary voters aren’t going to vote with general election electability in mind. And that may be true. But if it’s not, that’s a big win for President Obama. Because those statements just won’t fly with the general electorate.

I heard someone else say Mitt’s embrace of Social Security was bad news for the Democrats. Because that takes it off the table for the Democrats in the general election. Again, I don’t buy that. Because Mitt’s only saying he’s more pro-Social Security than Perry. And he’s got most of his party committed to various forms of privatization and cuts to Social Security. The more Mitt positions himself as the defender of Social Security, the more it gets him tripped up with members of his own party. That’s not the end of the world for Mitt. But I don’t think he can take it off the table against the Democrats or President Obama.

In my mind, whatever the polls say tomorrow, Mitt Romney came out of tonight with a strong argument that Rick Perry can’t win a general election. Whether that shows up today or tomorrow or whenever, that’s a thing of great value to someone in Romney’s position. So again, I score the evening a strategic victory for Romney.

TPM Reader JL writes in with an interesting observation about the Romney v. Perry clash — with video of an old LBJ ad against Barry Goldwater from 1964: Read More

The new deficit-reduction supercommittee holds its first public hearing this morning. Brian Beutler has the lowdown.

More about that whacky anti-immigration ad — as in, keep all immigrants out, legal and illegal — you might have seen air during last night’s debate.

With everything else you hear about the “Super Committee”, remember this. The ‘trigger’ cuts are dire. But they don’t come into effect until early 2013, after the 2012 election. In 2012 nothing happens. So if committee Republicans refuse any revenue increases and no agreement is reached, the consequences of the failure to agree move to the top of the 2012 agenda. Sharp cuts to Social Security and Medicare or tax hikes on dollars made over $250,000 per year. It’s a frame for the 2012 election Republicans are very much trying to avoid. So the incentives for both sides on the committee are not necessarily what they seem.

Scientists developing new technology that might make cell phone reception not suck.

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals says no to Virginia’s challenge of the Affordable Care Act.