How does Rick Santorum square his one word descriptor ("courage") with "taking one for the team" on NCLB?  In fairness, he's sometimes been a pragmatic politician, occasionally necessary to thrive as a Republican in a blue state like Pennsylvania.  But if you've got the "pragmatic politician" stuff in your  background -- as he does with earmarks, Planned Parenthood, Specter and NCLB, to name a few -- it complicates your efforts to market yourself as the "pure" conservative.

You mean people want to hear about real issues like: the economy, jobs, Iran, Syria, Fast and Furious, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Education, Barack Obama, Government Spending, National Debt, School Choice, Foreign Policy, Bailouts, Border, Mexico, Illegal Immigration, etc? 

 

With the pro-life/pro-choice argument being in the news cycle for the past few weeks, Newt Gingrich was right on point tonight when he brought up President Obama's pro-abortion, pro-infanticide voting record that the media ignored during his presidential campaign in 2008. As a state senator, Obama voted against legislation, four times in total, that protects babies who surviveabortion procedures. His no vote meant he was in support of legally allowing people to leave baby abortion survivors to die on the operating table instead of giving them care. More from NRO:

Obama’s abortion extremism is such that, as a state legislator, he opposed protection for — I’ll use his words here — “that fetus, or child — however way you want to say describe it” when, contrary to the wishes of the women involved and their abortionists, there was “movement or some indication that, in fact, they’re not just coming out limp and dead.” Babies were inconveniently being born alive, self-styled health-care providers carted them off to utility rooms where they would be left to die. That is infanticide, plain and simple. In Illinois, people tried to stop this barbarism by supporting “born alive” legislation. Barack Obama fought them all the way.

On immigration, has John King asked the candidates to comment on "harsh and intolerable" (I.e., "intolerant") statements on some peoples' parts?  Is that like being a "severe" (I.e. "sincere") conservative?

Again, Rick Santorum is having a problem getting his message out there.  Each time he tries to respond to an attack, he goes into convoluted details that don't serve him well.  His response to Romney's playing "the Specter card" (ie invoking Santorum's support for Arlen Specter) is a prime example.

One of my favorite debate moments yet: Newt and Mitt combine to gang tackle President Obama on religious freedom and abortion.  If we could only keep this up through the fall -- focusing on the President rather than each other -- he'd be heading back to Chicago come 1/13.

Preaching to the MSNBC choir about the fictitious works-based salvation of Jesus Christ.

Well, this could finally be it.  I'm not sure whether to feel nostalgia or relief.  8pm ET. CNN.  Follow our all-star team's sharp, real-time coverage below, and provide your own running scorecard in the comments section.  I'll see you afterwards with a full recap.