Talk about it here. Watch it live on NBC, MSNBC, or right here.
5:57 PM PT: There's a gameshow on NBC right now, and I momentarily thought the debate had already started. But then I saw none of the cash prizes are as big as the $5 million that Sheldon Adelson's wife is steering Newt's way. (Through his Super PAC.)
5:58 PM PT: So will Mitt Romney come out swinging and punch the living daylights out of Newt Gingrich? Something tells me Newt won't want to throw the first punch, but who knows. But I'm not sure Mitt can hurt Newt face-to-face. If he doesn't do it, however, it'll be like Tim Pawlenty's "Obamneycare" humiliation multiplied by a 10,000.
5:59 PM PT: Ha, the show is called "Who's still standing?" Answer: Newt, Mitt, Ron, and Rick. But Ron is not participating in the Florida primary. (However, he's in the debate, for some reason.)
6:02 PM PT: Thank you Brian Williams for putting this whole debate in context for us.
6:04 PM PT: First question is about electability, to Newt. Newt humbly informs us that he's Ronald Reagan.
6:05 PM PT: And now he's claiming credit for Bill Clinton's presidency. Forgets to mention he impeached him.
6:06 PM PT: A look at the debate stage:
6:08 PM PT: Mitt Romney starts landing what he thinks are haymakers against Newt. Newt says he doesn't want to waste people's time refuting them and that he'd refute them on his website tomorrow morning. And then he says Romney is guilty of misinformation and is a liar.
6:09 PM PT: BW asks Romney about his problem connecting with Southern conservatives. Romney's answer—I kid you not—is that he did well with New Hampshire conservatives. And now he's going back to attacking Newt for having been forced out of office. And now he switches gears and starts flogging the Freddie Mac attack.
6:10 PM PT: Remember when Romney said his biggest regret was attacking his fellow Republicans? BW does. Romney now says he realized he was wrong to have that be his biggest regret.
6:11 PM PT: Smackdown: Newt says Romney is a bad historian!
6:12 PM PT: At issue: Newt says he didn't resign until late 2008, but the ethics probe was in early 2007.
6:14 PM PT: I think it's really stupid that they don't let the crowd get involved. All of BW's questions are about the horserace aspect of the campaign; given that he's treating it like a sporting event, why not let the crowd get involved?
6:15 PM PT:
Just in from Public Policy Poling: Gingrich leading Romney in Florida 38-33. Is Newt the frontrunner yet?
— @ThePlumLineGS
6:16 PM PT (Kaili Joy Gray): The liveblogging continues in the next thread.