After having watched it in full, the winner of the debate was (and I was very surprised) Gingrich. Now, he's fully aware that his run has been handled disastrously, and that any realistic bid for the presidency ended a while ago. What's becoming clearer, however, is that he's making a graceful transition towards a VP bid, focusing on Perry. So many of his comments during the debate- don't tear apart Perry's book, don't pit Republicans against one another, fire Ben Bernanke- just reek of opportunism in the wriest sense. He just might pull it off, especially if he can continue to build a platform for himself as "the man who brings the party together."
As far as Romney v. Perry goes, it was an approximate tie: Romney's answers were on the whole a bit more substantive and relevant, but Perry proved himself fully capable of winning the nomination for the first time on the main stage.
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Perry would not be electable even without those comments. Those comments just make him a joke candidate.-- redrocket