Talk about it here. Watch it live on CNN or
CNN.com.
5:30 PM PT: Romney to Santorum: "While I was fighting to save the Olympics, you were fighting to save the Bridge to Nowhere." Santorum to Romney: "You don't know what you're talking about." They really are looking petty.
5:31 PM PT: This debate is just terrible for these guys. Newt Gingrich so far might be the only guy able to get a win out of this. But they all look terrible. Just awful.
5:33 PM PT: Now here comes Ron Paul to sort of defend earmarking while kind of attacking it. He doesn't want to undercut Romney too much, I guess. I really wish I knew what game he was playing.
5:36 PM PT: Santorum says he's always against bailouts, but attacks Mitt Romney for favoring the Wall Street bailout, but opposing the auto bailout. Trying to have his cake and eat it too. Mitt Romney smugly and sickishly dismisses Santorum by saying "nice try."
5:37 PM PT: Nice quote from Romney: "Let them go through bankruptcy" with respect to the auto industry. Then on banks (paraphrasing): I didn't want to save any particular Wall Street bank ... I was worried about losing ALL the banks. I smell an ad from this if he gets the nomination.
5:38 PM PT: Romney's message: We need a domestic banking industry. But the auto industry can go fuck itself and move to China.
5:39 PM PT:
Shorter Mitt: I don't want to make sure we lose all of our banks. But I'm happy to lose half of our car companies. Cause Toyota's enough.
— @emptywheel via TweetDeck
5:41 PM PT:
Where did the Romney forces find all those enthusiastic people -- do they go from state to state?
— @ElizabethDrewOH via TweetDeck
5:43 PM PT: I know I'm repeating myself, but the thing that keeps on going through my mind with this debate is that these guys are really, really awful.
5:45 PM PT (Barbara Morrill): New thread is up here.