Giuliani Stumbles, Leaving GOP Field Wide Open

Giuliani's stumbling might have presented Romney with an opportunity to shine. But Romney's was put in his place by McCain. McCain, a former prisoner of war, has been the most outspoken Republican against torture. McCain clearly asserted that waterboarding is a form of torture and asked whether Romney thought it was torture, as well.

Romney backpedaled and appeared defensive, saying he didn't want to alert our enemies about "what they might expect" if they were captured. I guess Romney's unfamiliar with the Geneva Conventions.

Huckabee benefited the most from the evening. He gave sound answers on several other questions, such as why many black voters tend not to vote for the GOP. He asserted that many candidates simply fail to work for the black vote and cited his success with black voters in Arkansas. Huckabee also handled a difficult question on the death penalty when a questioner bluntly put it: "What would Jesus do?"

I think Huckabee came out the night's winner. If he can keep up his head of steam, I wouldn't be surprised to see him come out on top in Iowa on Jan. 3. If only he could borrow a buck or two from Ron Paul, he would be golden.

Paul did a fine job in the debate. The Texas congressman consistently makes the case for small government and used this as his focus to answer many questions, whether talking about the war in Iraq or cutting the deficit.

Paul will also surprise in New Hampshire. The state has very liberal laws on who can vote in the primary, and it allows same-day registration. Paul's supporters know how to organize. I expect them to show up in force and affect the outcome.

I just don't see it happening for Fred Thompson. He manages to work in a funny comment occasionally, but he lacks charisma and a teleprompter. He needed to get into the race sooner to work out the kinks. Thompson has my vote as an early withdrawer after failing to catch on in the last several debates.

Tonight's debate demonstrated one obvious observation: It ain't over yet.