Republican Debate

There was a lively debate between the Republican candidates at the Ronald Reagan Library in California last night. Eight candidates took part (Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum), but the debate was dominated by clashes between Mitt Romney, who had been considered to be the front runner for many months, and Rick Perry, the governor of Texas.  Perry only joined the race last month but has already made a considerable impact, particularly amongst the Tea Party movement.  Perry aggressively criticised many of Romney's policies as governor of Massachusets, but may have damaged his position with more moderate Republicans with his dismissive comments of social security as a "Ponzi scheme" (basically a dodgy financial arrangement) and a "monstrous lie".  It will be interesting to see what effect the debate has on their poll ratings, and watch out for the "Tea Party Debate" on Monday.

PS: Click the video above to watch them in action (after a brief ad), and here are reports and reaction from CNN and Fox News.

PPS: There is also some useful comment here from the New York Times