8:05 - Pardon Libby? I give Rudy props for his answer. He stood out, here. "This is excessive punishment." And I LOVE how he is not allowing Wolfie to shut him up. He's about to say, "I paid for this microphone!"
8:05 - Hunter just hit the Scooter Libby question out of the ballpark.
8:04 - Huckabee's airplane security analogy is a good one.
7:47 - Wolfie just asked "The Mormon Question."
7:43 - GREAT EVOLUTION ANSWER. Huckabee hits it out of the ballpark for me (and I'm guessing a lot of Americans) with: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." I also like his nuanced answer about the amount of time creation may have took.
7:42 - That's right, Romney's conversion to Pro-Life happened at the age of, what, 50?
7:41 - Ok, Rudy. I've been favorable to you tonight. But now that you've brought it up -- you do not hate abortion.
7:40 - Is that lightning -- or is Rudy being struck down for criticizing a priest?
7:39 - Tommy Thompson thinks anyone named Thompson is good (for this reason, I'm a huge Huey Lewis fan...)
7:38 - RudyMcRomneySon? Gilmore makes the point that we don't know how conservative Fred Thompson is ...
7:35 -McCain survived the Immigration discussion. Frankly, I'm surprised Romney and Rudy didn't take some better shots at him. ... What's with McCain talking about Native American language?
7:25 - Here comes the Immigration issue. I'm taking a break to soak it all in ...
7:24 - Tancredo makes a good point about losing the English language. I think that will play pretty well among base voters.
7:23 - Ok, the sounds in the background is lighting in Manchesters ...
7:19 - Rudy mentions Ft. Dix -- and JFK Airport. Says this war is not a bumper sticker. He earns the 2nd round of applause.
7:18 - I know I'm in the minority here, but boy could I go for a wacky Chris Matthews question, right now ...
7:16 - Tancredo is hurrying. Slow down, dude.
7:15 - Did Huckabee just say today is the birthday of Ronald Reagan??? Did I hear him wrong, or is it February, already?
7:14 - So Duncan Hunter was like the only guy in Congress who read the Iraq Intelligence Report ...
7:13 - Ok, I'm voting Tommy Thompson off the debate. He's not merely a 3rd tier candidate -- but worse -- he's not entertaining, either ...
7:11 - McCain just made a good point that he didn't say it was "President Clinton's War" in Bosnia. He gets the first applause of the night.
7:09 - Gilmore has a HUGE chip on his shoulder. Wolf just did him a favor, in the question, by mentioning his background -- which is extensive.
7:08 - McCain didn't read the classified Iraq report before voting for the war, but we've always known that. Was that a "gotcha" question? If so, it didn't work. Apparently Brownback didn't, either. At least, he won't answer the question.
7:07 - Man is Rudy good on the issue of terror. If this debate is about terror, he wins. Love the aphorisms. BTW, what's up with that random buzz sound (or is it just me)?
7:05 - Mitt takes on Harry Reid. Good move. But Wolfie is disputing whether or not Romney answered the question (clearly Wolf is trying to crack the whip early). Romney calls it, "an unreasonable hypothetical."
7:04 - Huckabee is funny ... AGAIN!
7:03 - I'm John McCain ... BUZZ
7:03 - I'm Matt Lewis and I'm with Townhall.com.
7:00 - Let's see how Wolf Blitzer measures up to Chris Matthews ... Ok. They're going to have "local" NH journalists asking questions.
6:58 - Ed Rollins is on Lou Dobbs talking about how Thompson may not have the "fire in the belly" for the race. Someone just compared Thompson's strategy (of staying out of the race), to Roger Clements.
6:56 PM - The debate is about to start. Post your comments -- as we go -- below ...
Join the conversation as a VIP Member