The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Debate Preview

Debate Preview

By W. James Antle, III on 1.16.12 @ 4:59PM

Down to just five Republican presidential candidates, what will the second-to-last debate before the South Carolina primary bring? A few things to watch for tonight:

Do Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum team up to go after Mitt Romney? Or do they attack each other, hoping to consolidate conservative support behind themselves in the elusive quest to be the anti-Romney? Does Santorum go after Ron Paul, who is now threatening his place in the top three in South Carolina? Or Paul hurt himself now that he’ll presumably have more time to talk about foreign policy in a smaller field? Does Rick Perry, now in last place among the major candidates, face questions about why he hasn’t joined Jon Huntsman in dropping out? Perhaps the biggest question is how Bain is handled, both by Romney and the other candidates.

About the Author

W. James Antle, III, author of the new book Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?, is editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation and a senior editor of The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter @jimantle.

http://spectator.org/blog/2012/01/16/debate-preview

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