Republican debate #16

I'm sitting in the packed press "filing room" (that's right, reporters don't get to sit in the actual room where the actual candidates have their actual debate), waiting for the debate to begin. We get to watch the debate on a giant (but poorly lit) TV screen. The parallel event is on everyone's laptop screens: the Twitter feed, which is already firing up.

While I'm waiting for things to get started, some quick notes from today:

- most reporters I've talked with think that the interesting story to watch now is Gingrich: He's made it clear he will attack Romney hard.

- got to see Perry and Romney each address the "Faith & Family" event hosted by Ralph Reed. Romney connected surprisingly well with this largely evangelical crowd; Perry was even worse than I expected. The man really has trouble stringing together a sentence--even in a "natural" crowd for him.

Now, off they go!