Overall good debate. Can’t wait to see the results. Romney did not skate and failed in many places (tax returns). Newt is back as is Santorum. Paul …..

Update 13: King ends on a great exit question: should SC push Romney forward or slow the train down. After a horrible start this is a good end for him.

Paul: Sort of good,  but wonkish.

Newt: Priority one – defeat Obama, since he is the most dangerous president. Also need a big team win across the spectrum. Newt is right as someone who could debate Obama.

Romney: Agrees with the critical nature of the election. But then goes to vague buzz words, which sort of proves Newt’s point. A litany of rah-rah sound bites is not enough (because Obama can do that too). Ending with a steal from Reagan.

Santorum: Who is the best? Santorum says a conviction (or convicted?) conservative is best. Santorum has a point, but he cannot carry the water. Santorum goes back to Rick (its always about him and not us), and pretends a social conservative is like Reagan – which Reagan was not. However, he resonates with evangelicals, so watch him in SC.

Update 12: Paul wins abortion topic. Yes, when a woman is pregnant a doctor has two (or more) patients. And yes, our culture has destroyed the sanctity of life. Santorum is losing this because no one wants a intrusive government in the family decision process. Paul does a good knock on Rick.

AJStrata: And yes I KNOW life begins at conception (scientific fact provable in any court of law with DNA testing). Paul is also right to move it to the states where Santorum is wrong.

Update 11: Illegal worker question – how do we make sure Americans get first cut at jobs. King mangles this to be about amnesty.

Newt: Rightly says we need to remove all barriers to control borders. Also fix the laws so it is easier to get here legally instead of making it easier to be here illegally. English as primary language – yes. Silly comment about Mastercard being able to run a guest worker program (something we need so we can keep track). Yes, long term residents of our communities can stay here as long as they were not felons. Many aspects silly (going out of country for reenry) and a pure waste of money.

Romney: Answer weak. A magic card will solve all the problems. Then begins echoing Newt’s nonsense about leaving and coming back later.

AJStrata: Look, we don’t need this cost, If they have been in our communities for decades, let them stay and pay fines – and get at the end of the citizenship line. Not that hard.

Santorum: Another fail. A misdemeanor does not result in losing home and family. Santorum thinks all illegals steal SS numbers. Losing moderate voters. We can fine people for their violations. We don’t need to cause families harm who have been here for decades with NO violent crimes. Most people want a rational answer, not a vindictive answer.

Paul: Good answer regarding punishing people who employ illegals to work. This is not a simple problem. I agree with Paul that providing support to illegals is not right because they are not paying in. Then he wanders off to Afghanistan … Incoherent.

Update 11: SOPA question.

Newt: Blows it on this initially. Even Hollywood deserves their IP protected. SOPA is wrong and over the top. Newt is right, use the patent laws to deal with this.

Romney: Newt got it right (yes, sort of obvious what is wrong with SOPA).

Santorum: blows it – no one said anything goes. Looks like he is not listening (or understanding).

Paul: OK, I guess.

Update 10: Apple as Pinata?? Gimme a break!What do with so many workers in China?

Santorum: Cut corporate taxes so we don’t lose jobs! Great and strong answer.

Paul: Newsflash – Paul noticed foreign care factories in the US. Well spotted.

Paul – Santorum: Paul loses the battle because he wants Federal dictate over states decisions.

Update 9: Romney will not let primary voters see his taxes until he is elected. Bad answer. Santorum’s answer is weak.

Good lord, did Romney screw this up or what? Who needs another rich guy in politics? Romney does not respect GOP primary voters if he cannot show us his income. He is not afraid of Obama, he is afraid of GOP primary voters,

Update 8: Santorum’s attacks on Newt are dumb. He attacks Newt and then says he will go after Obama. Newt’s connections to Reagan just shows everyone how long he has been rattling around DC. However, as he said big ideas are needed. Santorum’s attack on Newt is not working. Big FAIL for Santorum. Really, really dumb.

Every Conservative is cringing and screaming “remember Reagan’s 11th Commandment!”

They all fell into the trap of letting a liberal give them a chance for the circular firing squad.

Update 7:  Question from audience: Can ObamaCare actually be repealed? (Of course King asks it through a loaded question)

Romney: Executive decision is not going to end ObamaCare (moment of honesty). Yes, it will take Congress and President to end the silliness. And here is where Romney shows his big government ghosts. He wants to REPLACE ObamaCare with RomneyCare II! Wrong….

Newt: Great answer “who could trust DC?”.  Can it be repealed – yes. Newt again leans on the “replace’ bandwagon, Great line: kids on parents health care because Obama can’t get them jobs.

Santorum: Hits RomneyCare hard (and rightly). Surprised Santorum was the Pit Bull here and not Newt. Again, good answer with lots of RomneyCare details.  Nails Newt on his individual mandate position. Great response

Get’s Romney to admit RomneyCare did not do much for MA. Newt answered well, because he did fight for a lot of good ideas. Newt is doing well tonight. He admits he was wrong – which neutralizes Santorum and Obama.

Paul: Plays doctor card (and military card again – ugh). Paul throws cold water on pulling back Obamacare – so why vote for him? Loses ground big time here. Instead of pulling Obamacare he wants to pull troops home. Someone look up ‘incoherent’ and you will find Paul’s pic.

Update 6: King – great question on out of work vets (know this one since it is close to home).

Paul: Hisresponse is not to do much for them. Goes back WW II (because we all remember that so well …). Agreed, cut taxes and open the economy. Paul is leaning too hard on his veteran status. VA support for returning vets an obvious answer – not a discriminator.

Santorum: Yes, give those who serve some preferences. I agree, for both my father the WW II Navy vet and my son, who will be a US Marine veteran sometime in the future. Obama cuts are an insult. Good answer.

Romney: In our state we gave vets a ‘free ride’ – insulting? Leave veteran support to the state level? And put them in RomneyCare??? Sorry, but the military is clearly a federal responsibility, so going to the states for this is a bad idea.

Newt: Going after Paul’s version of history. GI Bill was huge (for Newt’s dad and my own). Everyone who serves should get a college degree and we should have aggressive again.

Update 6: Santorum responds well – capitalism for everyone (not just the Bain’s). Workers feel abandoned by both parties (true!). Santorum is doing well here.

Update 5: Bain try 2 – Romney flailing himself. Newt is ready to pounce. Nothing wrong with profit, unless it kills Main Street jobs. Let’s see if Newt strikes.

Update 4: Newt get’s another softball against Romney/Bain. Again, dealing to Newt’s strength. Romney babbles about marginal issues and then goes onto Obama’s ‘crony capitalism’ – as if Bain was not exactly that! Dumb move.

Update 3: Paul: Solution to jobs is getting government out of the way. A bit wonkey in the details. Newt: 3 solutions. Kill Frank/Dodd bill; go after America’s energy sources; fix the Corps of Engineers.

Update 2: King leaves Santorum a trap and he sort of kind of dodges it. He should have taken Newt’s lead and slapped King. Weak response. Romney nails the response (“move on to real issues”). Paul slips sideways to a irrelevant component about corporate media. CNN and media lose big, Newt gains and Romney follows.

Update 1: John King, flails and fails by trying to “splain”. He earned this shellacking and gave Newt a softball.

Original: CNN Leads with the muckraking. And Newt nails CNN for leading with this stupidity John King stepped right into it and deserves the shellacking he is getting. Way to go Newt!