Official CNN South Carolina Debate Thread

[King]

The CNN debate lineup is basically Most to Least Fascist.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Stop the presses: Ron Paul just said something was the job of the federal government.

But he did tie it together with "bringing our troops home."

[M]

If this were an election for student government president, Romney would win 75-80% of the vote.

Ann Romney is lead cheerleader?

Santorum is the overacher head of the debate team. Gingrich is a cranky nerd from the school newspaper. Paul is the class clown.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

Need to buy time... attack John King!

[King]

I'm confused...

[tmthforu94]

Just started watching - can an unbiased person please tell me who's probably the biggest winners and losers thus far?

[King]

Just started watching - can an unbiased person please tell me who's probably the biggest winners and losers thus far?

You're not going to believe any of us because Romney is barely beating John King for 4th best.

[All Along The Watchtower]

LOL, snarky answer from Newt.

[Politico]

CNN is going to be ripping Gingrich the next couple of days, and if he wins in South Carolina they're not going to spin it nicely for Gingrich.

[Lief 🗽]

Just started watching - can an unbiased person please tell me who's probably the biggest winners and losers thus far?

It's honestly been pretty much a wash, I think. Everyone is just attacking everyone. Romney's answer on his tax returns was terrible again, so he's probably doing the worst I guess. But I don't think there'll be a big effect.

[M]

CNN is going to be ripping Gingrich the next couple of days, and if he wins in South Carolina they're not going to spin it nicely for Gingrich.

Does Gingrich care? His fans watch Fox.

[Keystone Phil]

Mitt's character isn't often questioned? Uh, what? For real?

[Eraserhead]

Just started watching - can an unbiased person please tell me who's probably the biggest winners and losers thus far?

The Grinch won the debate in the opening minutes.

[Lief 🗽]

Romney: "I rarely have to answer questions about my integrity or character."

!!!!!

[Thomas D]

Just started watching - can an unbiased person please tell me who's probably the biggest winners and losers thus far?

Newt tore John King's head off in the fist 2 minutes. Not much since then. Santorum's had a good night.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Just started watching - can an unbiased person please tell me who's probably the biggest winners and losers thus far?

Santorum - generally strong answers, pretty aggressive
Romney - had a couple of strong moments, but then he got really tripped on the tax issue
Gingirch - less aggressive, more pompous, still relatively strong
Paul - useless.

[Dereich]

Just started watching - can an unbiased person please tell me who's probably the biggest winners and losers thus far?

Everyone's doing well, Gingrich got the best soundbite but I'd say Santorum has been doing consistently well. Paul has been hit or miss, rambling a bit more than usual. Romney is doing worse then average but better then last debate.

[King]

My rankings so far:

First Quarter (8-8:30 ET)
1. Gingrich
2. Santorum
3. Paul
4. Romney

Second Quarter (8:30-9 ET)
1. Santorum
2. Gingrich
3. Romney
4. Paul

Third Quarter (9-9:30 ET)
1. Gingrich
2. Paul
3. Romney
4. Santorum

We'll see how it closes.

[Lief 🗽]

THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE DOUBTING PEOPLE'S VIEWS. EVERYONE STOP ASKING MITT ROMNEY UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS.

[M]

That little whisper thing didn't work.

[All Along The Watchtower]

"This is not the time to be questioning someone's integrity."

Yeah, Mitt. We're only vetting you for President of the United States.

[angus]

Just started watching - can an unbiased person please tell me who's probably the biggest winners and losers thus far?

You're not going to believe any of us because Romney is barely beating John King for 4th best.

LOL.

Tmthforu94, it's better with only 4 actually.  I thought I'd miss Perry, but this is just as entertaining.  Santorum actually looks reasonably now that he has some time.  Ron Paul is Ron Paul.  Mitt has said some things that may or may not crush him--I"m banking on the average SC voter being better informed than most here are thinking--and Newt has actually said a thing or two that has made him look a bit gentle, if you can believe that.  Maybe it's good coaching.  

Mostly, it's just a lot of clapping by residents of South Carolina.  They're very much into clapping.

[tmthforu94]

Thank you.

From what I've seen, this is more a debate against CNN.

[Politico]

I actually feel like Santorum is going to benefit the most from this. He was wise to always go after Romney and Gingrich at the same time. He needed that.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Mitt lecturing Santorum on abortion. Awesome.

GO PAUL!