CNN offers us the five things we learned from last night’s feisty GOP debate:
Why 9-9-9 was No. 1: A rise in the polls brings more scrutiny, so we knew that Cain’s “9-9-9” tax plan would come under attack from his rivals. And we didn’t have to wait long for the full frontal assault….
…..Romney gave as good as he got: We knew Romney would be under the microscope, but the attacks from his fellow candidates seemed a bit more vicious in Las Vegas. Call it a Wild West shootout along the Strip, with Romney the target…
….Romney gave as good as he got, but the fact that “RomneyCare” keeps coming up must be frustrating for him and a concern for his campaign.
...Rick Perry finally woke up: Perry’s poor debate performances over the past month are a major reason why he’s faded in national polling. The Las Vegas debate may be the moment when he started to turn things around..
….Rick Santorum’s the fighter: He’s low in the polls and he isn’t rich with campaign cash, but Santorum’s excelling at going on the attack and grabbing attention at the debates…
...Immigration questions not going away: This was supposed to be an election about jobs and the economy, but the topic of illegal immigration continues to rear its head on the campaign trail and in debates.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.