Santorum is right to attack Gingrich on his previous support for TARP bailouts. Santorum is hemorrhaging his supporters to Newt. The worse Santorum can hurt Newt the better, though it will make it quite awkward if he would need to endorse him should he drop out.

9:33: Romney is attacking very effectively. This is a great debate for him. “Really, why would a company hire a “historian?” I can’t be certain, but Newt was most likely hired for his influence and connections in Congress. Newt is very good at doublespeak and so far, it’s been highly effective.

9:37: As expected, the debate deteriorated into something that looks like a schoolyard dispute. Tensions between Newt and Mitt are high. There are plenty attacks to be directed towards President Obama, but so far, only Santorum has really done it. To NBC and Brian Williams’ credit, this debate is far more interesting and professional than ABC’s.

9:42: Ron Paul is correct about the economic bubble, but he was not the only person to forecast it back in the 90’s. It was impossible to stop the runaway freight train at the time.

9:47: Both Romney and Gingrich promise to repeal Dodd-Frank, a bill they claim crippled the economy by creating unneeded regulation of the financial markets. Repeal of Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, and Obamacare are key issues for the Republican electorate. So far, Gingrich pressed for this most effectively in his speeches around the country.

9:51: Romney: “We need to stand with the people of Cuba who want freedom.”

Gingrich: “I don’t think Fidel will meet his maker, I think he will go to the other place.”

Gingrich seems more aggressive in his dealings with Cuba. This is important to Florida voters because of the large Cuban-American GOP vote. It is also important to Jewish voters because Cuba’s imprisonment of American-Jewish contractor Alan Gross on trumped up charges.

9:55: Santorum points out that Cuba is now working closely with other rogue states. Although, as Ed Koch recently said, an embargo will not improve relations with Iran.  America should use the “soft” power of American diplomacy to sway Cuban perception of Americans.

Romney: You don’t draw down troops in the middle of the fighting season, without listening to the Generals.

9:58: Paul once again shows why he’s not representative of mainstream ideology within the Republican party. Most American voters from both parties see Iran as a legitimate threat to stability in the Middle East. America is not alone in condemning Iran; as the majority of European nations are on board. One thing he is right about, is that the actions from both countries do amount to acts of war.

10:05: Santorum: Obama’s Iran policy is a failure because he is not true to the American people about the actual seriousness of the Iranian threat. (paraphrased)

Santorum is doing a good job pointing out what I said earlier, there is no way you can look at Iran’s action and not see them as a declaration of war. He is doing a great job of maximizing his allotted time in this debate. I am sure many voters appreciate his sensible answers that they don’t have to see through a fog of personal attacks between the front-runners.

10:07: Gingrich is now appealing to Hispanic voters with his inclusive message and Spanish language ads. Then why did he attack Romney for being able to speak French?

10:10: Before SC, NH, and IA Mitt would have attacked Newt on illegal immigration, now he is agreeing. What happened? Oh. The Hispanic vote. And… aren’t refugees from Cuba illegal immigrants that don’t get deported if they step on U.S. soil?

10:12: Romney has definitely taken a page out of Gingrich’s SC playbook in learning how to focus on issues that are specific to the primary State. Where before he would talk about the nation in general. Ron Paul, not knowing the issues on a state level is a prime example of how hard it is for a national level candidate to do that.

10:17: Way to bring back ancient history, Adam Smith. Who has thought about the Terry Schiavo case recently?

10:20: A good question would also be: Dr. Jack Kevorkian died recently, do you believe a patient should have the right to assisted suicide?

10:30: Mitt Romney is making a very powerful argument for NASA. Since the space shuttle program was terminated, the U.S. has had to depend on Russia’s unsafe Soviet-Era “Soyuz” rockets to get its astronauts into space. American exceptionalism lies in innovation and scientific advancement. The space program is important for national pride. Take a look at what they are replacing the Space Shuttle program with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System

Project Mercury, here we come again!

10:35: Santorum: Governor Romney is very proud that his state was the first to cap CO2 emissions. …. When push came to shove, they (Newt and Mitt) got pushed. They rejected conservatism when it was hard to stand. There is no difference between President Obama and these two gentlemen.

10:38: More people need to challenge Ron Paul on his over evoking the founding fathers. Anyone who reads the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers would know that he does not agree with any of the significant founding fathers. In fact, there are many specific quotes in James Madison’s notes on the proceedings of the Second Constitutional Convention that directly disagree with Ron Paul’s assertions.

10:45: What a great debate for Romney. He comes off as competent and knowledgeable. Santorum was exceptional. Gingrich was untouched. I am surprised how wrong I was before the debate. This debate had nothing like the moments in CNN’s debate last year.

No news, may be good news for all the candidates. No one was hurt at all. It will be as if it never happened. But at least Romney’s supporters can feel secure that Romney is not self destructing in the debates.

Santorum looks like he is still in the race also. Good performance. Great attacks. Comes off as a very likable guy but I doubt it will change anything in his support.

Closing statement: There were no outstanding performances, and if anyone’s opinion matters, it would be University of Virginia Center for Politics director Larry Sabato’s, who tweeted: No A’s tonight. Romney B+ (closest thing to winner), Newt: B (okay but didn’t shine as usual), Santorum B- (grade upped at end), Paul C.

Thank you very much for joining me. Please post comments below, and follow me on Twitter @dmitriyshapiro Have a Good Night.