His only concern must be how well Santorum did tonight. He died with that glib response - "maybe" - to the question of whether he'd follow his father's example. That, to me, is the essence of all of Romney's electoral problems. Then he says this: "Now is not the time to question someone's words." The final Republican presidential debate before Saturday’s all-important South Carolina primary is over. And in that respect, at least, the plan seems to have worked. * Twitter: What did we do during debates Twitter existed? There are more important things to debate. Remember, the law will allow an additional 30 million people to get health insurance, set basic standards for everybody’s coverage, and, according to official projections, reduce federal deficits while starting to get overall health care costs under control. And being commander-in-chief means more than simply trying to turn the country’s economy around. LOSERS 
 
 * Ron Paul: Before the Paul supporters flood the Fix inbox with emails protesting him making the “loser” list, let us say this: It wasn’t his fault. Tonight he was back in condemning mode: It was an example of “crony capitalism,” Romney said, because Obama handed the company over to his friends in the United Auto Workers. Agree or disagree with our picks? A reader writes: 
 
 You know, in the end, Santorum just doesn’t have the balls to duke it out with Gingrich and Romney. Newt and Romney throw their usual bullshit at him and it’s bullshit, but they do it with their usual arrogance and ego and it starts to overwhelm Santorum. * Newt Gingrich: The first five minutes of the debate were Newt’s finest hour in the race. Just a dreadful few minutes for Romney. And that means this thing blows wide open again. Why can't Romney once - just once - directly answer the question asked, instead of insisting on saying what he wants to say first? The question went to Romney and the discussion afterwards turned quickly to which candidate was most committed to repeal in the first place.  Debate Reaction: Newt's Night 
 
 Another day, another Republican debate. Luckily for Romney, neither Gingrich not Santorum seemed particularly interested in pushing him on the tax return issue — perhaps because they thought Romney had done himself enough damage on his own on the issue. The liberal media appears to be even less popular among South Carolina Republicans than President Obama. We live-blogged the whole thing and, to be honest, came away generally impressed with the performances by each of the four men on stage. He kept that to a relative minimum tonight. There was even a moment when John King tried to move on to the next question without calling on Paul and the supporters of the Texas Republican in the audience cried out until he was recognized. He won the crowd over instantaneously. Santorum attacked Gingrich. Of course, the exchange probably worked to Gingrich’s advantage. And that makes it a win for him.
– Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul all had their moments in last night's GOP debate, but it was Newt Gingrich's night thanks to his fiery first five minutes, pundits say. Rick Santorum took the fight to Gingrich and Romney and was the "central mover in the debate," but Newt's condemnation of the media was "his finest hour in the race," writes Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post. He took a potential weak spot and "turned it into a moment of considerable strength." Romney, for the first time, "found a compelling message when it came to questions about his considerable personal wealth," he notes. Some of Santorum's attacks on Gingrich's "fealty to conservative social causes were substantively correct" but they probably won't be enough to slow Newt's momentum, decides Jonathan Cohn at the New Republic. Romney's "rambling and unclear" response to tax questions he must have known were coming makes Cohn wonder if Romney's tax returns are "even more damning than speculation has suggested." The debate was a "triumph for Gingrich," writes Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Beast. Romney, however, looked flat next to "Santorum's brutal, relentless attacks, Newt's contempt," and "Paul's jocular indifference," and could now be in serious trouble, he writes.