Live Blogging from GOP Debate

8:46 pm: Technical problems are marring the exchange. A real shame.

8:41 pm: I’m just not seeing any breakout performances. There won’t be many chances left for the second tier.

8:39 pm: Abortion reemerges, courtesy of Brownback: "I don’t think we’re going to nominate somebody who’s not pro-life." But he stops short of the ultimate rebuke, saying he’ll support whoever is the nominee.

8:32 pm: Not a lot of meaningful distinctions emerging in the second half so far.

8:23 pm: For the second time, this format is taking the energy out of the room. And I for one am surprised there isn’t more hand-to-hand combat on stage this evening.

8:18 pm: McCain does like making his support for the war personal – that’s twice he talked about individual troops in his answer. And now he’s talking about "straight talk" again – trying to recapture some New Hampshire magic.

8:03 pm: Tom Tancredo is using his banishment from the White House as a badge of honor. That’s what a 30 percent approval rating does for you, I suppose.

8:01 pm: Tommy Thompson on George W. Bush: "I certainly would not send him to the United Nations." Instead he’d put him on a lecture tour on "public service." Didn’t see that answer coming…

7:58 pm: Giuliani couldn’t run fast enough from the "don’t ask, don’t tell" question: "This is not the time to deal with disruptive issues like this." So when IS the time?

7:52 pm: Romney’s answer on energy: That’s him at his best, and shows anew why he can dominate a stage like no one else who’s up there with him.

7:48 pm: Romney blames "pundits" for ginning up the religion issue. OK, if you say so.

7:42 pm: When lightning strikes – couldn’t have been funnier timing, and got to love McCain putting physical distance between himself and Giuliani just as Giuliani puts distance himself on the abortion issue from the rest of the field.

7:38 pm: Dead silence when asked if anyone agrees with McCain that English shouldn’t be the nation’s official language. That we’ll hear about again.

7:29 pm: McCain frames the immigration bill in terms of national security – and bringing people together. Better than talking about undocumented immigrants. It is a serious national security problem. We need to act, my friends." Then he calls for "better ideas." Not a bad challenge, since no one is likely to answer it. "It’s our job to do the hard things, not the easy things."

7:25 pm: Finally some immigration, and of course it’s Tancredo that gets the question. Tancredo says the bill will test "whether or not we will actually survive as a nation." Yowsers. And Giuliani calls the bill a "typical Washington" creation. McCain will be standing alone on this issue.

7:20 pm: Wow, is Rep. Duncan Hunter ever going for the tough-guy vote, authorizing "tactical nuclear weapons" and sounding like he’s ready to start a war with Iran approximately yesterday. Giuliani, meanwhile, sees Democrats "back in the 1990s," though of course he wasn’t asked about Democrats: "This war is not a bumper sticker. This war is a real war."

7:12 pm: McCain talks about the human cost of war – and then launches the first attack of the night on Senator Hillary Clinton (an easy play for applause): "Senator Clinton doesn’t understand that presidents don’t lose wars, political parties don’t lose wars, nations lose wars." But none of these guys want to engage on the question of what comes next in Iraq.

7:07 pm: Fun watching Romney dodge this question about whether it was right to invade Iraq – it’s a "null set sort of question." What is he saying? Rudy Giuliani knows what he wants to say: "Absolutely the right thing to do."

7:03 pm: Tommy Thompson gets the first laugh: "I’m the candidate, not the actor." He’ll need more of those tonight. But these introductions are just weird, aren’t they?

6:27 pm: Hi everyone, Rick Klein here from ABC’s The Note, in place for more real-time analysis of a presidential debate. There’s a lot of buzz at the debate site over who’s going to be on the attack – look for former governor Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain to really go at it over immigration, and for McCain in particular to be targeted by everyone for his support of immigration reform.

My take: This is an enormous night for the second tier. They don’t debate again for two more months, and by that time, it could be late for anyone else to make a name for himself with Fred Thompson set to jump in.

Be back in 30 minutes for the start of the debate – and be part of the discussion in the comments section below.