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10:33 pm: Highlights? Giuliani found his voice, but still not great on the abortion issue. McCain and Romney got into some fun tangles – and both sides can rightly claim to have scored points. And the second tier is getting restless.
Read The Note tomorrow morning for more coverage and analysis. See you next time.
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10:27 pm: Tancredo has no problems with torture. "I’m looking for Jack Bauer." Bonus points for a Fox reference.
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10:16 pm: Brit Hume offers up an insanely complicated scenario to ask McCain about torture – this is McCain’s wheelhouse, like Giuliani’s 9/11. But Rudy responds with a 9/11 recollection: "I’d say ‘every method they could think of’ " to stop the attack.
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10:08 pm: How’s this confederate flag issue going to play out? This won’t be the last we hear of it in this campaign.
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10:06 pm: Big score by Giuliani – and this could be the moment he was looking for, in taking on Paul over his 9/11 comments. The look in his eyes – and great political instincts by Rudy to sense the political opportunity. Even Romney, the smoothest of debaters, was clamoring for 30 seconds to respond by the time Giuliani was done.
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10:03 pm: Key point on the abortion question – it’s a make-or-break issue for a big enough segment that, yes, it matters in the Republican primary. But I agree – the issue is getting over-covered – though these things are cyclical, so it’ll fade and reemerge with time.
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10:01 pm: Now this is what a debate is all about. Romney tees off on McCain: "McCain-Kennedy would do to immigration what McCain Feingold has done to . . . money and politics. And that’s bad." But McCain fights back: "I haven’t changed my position on even-numbered years, or have changed because of the different offices I may have been running for." Get the feeling that both sides would like a direct fight?
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9:56 pm: Tom Tancredo agrees that the Big Three are "soft" on immigration – not a shocker. But then he goes further in attacking some of his rivals for flip-flops – displaying some frustration that seems to be shared by the second tier: "I trust those conversions when they happen on the road to Damascus, and not on the road to Des Moines."
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9:46 pm: Romney is running against his home state again. "In the toughest of states, I made the toughest of decisions." "Massachusetts" is a curse word for many Republicans, so why not?
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9:42 pm: Gilmore names names. Giuliani, Huckabee, and Romney aren’t conservatives, he says, giving voice to the frustrations of many Republicans. But Giuliani goes after Hillary instead of defending himself. A missed opportunity? Or part of his campaign theme – a Republican who can bring the country together?
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9:37 pm: Interesting point HH – and don’t forget how much trouble President Bush got in when he said in 2004 that you can’t "win" the war on terror.
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9:33 pm: Jim Gilmore hints at some news! Looks like he’s going to name names of candidates who aren’t really conservatives tomorrow on his Web site. Think that Giuliani and Romney are nervous?
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9:31 pm: Gotta love Ron Paul for at least bringing a diversity of ideas to the table. Try to find another candidate in either party who would spike the Department of Homeland Security.
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9:29 pm: I wouldn’t expect the emergency response question tonight – Giuliani was probed fairly extensively on the issue on Fox News on Sunday.
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9:27 pm: Rudy Giuliani claims to have "lowered spending" in New York City – big asterisk has to be there for that to be accurate. Spending went up a healthy $9 billion over Giuliani’s eight years a mayor.
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9:24 p.m: McCain’s "drunken sailor" line got a good laugh – it’s not new, since he uses on the campaign trail fairly regularly, but it gets a reliable response from Republican audiences. But a better – and, I think, original line from Mike Huckabee: "We have a Congress that’s spend money like John Edwards at a beauty shop."
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9:17 pm: Second-tier candidates look for breakthrough moments – was that Duncan Hunter’s attempt? "I think the other guys ought to lay out their credentials to be commander-in-chief."
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9:12 pm: Sam Brownback scored the first blow at a Democrat – condemning Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for saying the war "is lost." And Rudy Giuliani was right behind him – clearly a talking point for both of them, to take on the Democrats, even though this is a Republican debate.
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9:06 pm: McCain got the first question – and, tellingly, no mention of Falwell, whom he once famously labeled an "agent of intolerance." But no backing down from his Iraq position: "I will be the last man standing if necessary."
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Starting now on Fox News Channel…
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I’m Rick Klein, ABC’s new senior political reporter and author of The Note. I’ll be blogging live off of tonight’s debate starting at 9 pm – log on while you’re watching, and feel free to be part of the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments section.
First thing I’ll be looking for: Who will be the first candidate to pay homage to Jerry Falwell?