Last night the ten Republicans vying for their parties nomination for the presidency line up again to debate, this time in my home state of South Carolina. I'm sure I heard somewhere that this debate was going to happen, but it wasn't nearly as heralded as the two previous debates on MSNBC. It took me until 5 minutes before it began to figure out what time it was on. Fox News decorated the set in Columbia to resemble some kind of tacky game show, with a multitude of blinking lights in the background. I did, however, prefer their long moderator's table to the on-stage podium MSNBC used. Also, the moderators seemed intent on getting the Republicans to attack each other. And they did. Finally.

Prodded to 'name names' of the candidates he was chiding as not being conservative enough, Jim Gilmore named Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. His 'Rudy McRomney' bit wasn't a big hit, since each of them did an acceptable job of defending his or her conservative record. Giuliani and Ron Paul sparred a bit over 9-11. Ron Paul's insistence that our foreign policy likely contributed to the 9-11 disaster brought a sharp rebuke from the former mayor, and the crowd ate it up.

Also, the moderators did a good job of getting answers to their questions. When Gov. Thompson couldn't name three offices he'd cut in DC, even when given two tries at it, the question went to somebody else who could. It was a telling moment.

After the last debate, it was tough to grade everyone. There just wasn't much to work with. Now, though, I believe the field is really beginning to separate into the contenders and those who need to find a graceful exit.

The Contenders
Mitt Romney: Not quite as sharp as last time, but good enough. It's amazing he's still doing as well as he is given his many flip-flops and all the time he has to take to defend his positions. If he wins, it's going to be because of three things: his tan, his regal aura and his ability to suck up to middle-of-the-roaders.

John McCain: His style is wearing thin with me. It's too pointed, too aggressive. And he smiles after every answer. He is back to talking about the issues he has always talked about, though. And that's good for his campaign. His passionate defense of his opposition to torture may have brought zero applause from the audience, but it had more substance than anything else said in that debate. If he wins it will be because he can appear both conservative and moderate at the same time, and because everyone forgets he's extremely old.

Rudy Giuliani: My opinion of Giuliani continues to decline. He continues to make us believe he is the best mayor New York ever had. And that may be the case, but he fails to convince he would be an effective president. His performance last night was poor, except for the retort to Ron Paul about 9-11. He can't be touched on 9-11. Amazingly, though, he is still very much in contention to win, despite his views on abortion. Can anybody imagine Bush being nominated 8 years ago with the same views on abortion as Giuliani? If he wins, it will be because he convinces Republicans to pay no attention to that social moderate behind the curtain.....

Ron Paul: The darkhorse. He is a contender, though. Does anyone pay attention to the polls after these debates? Ron Paul continues to do extremely well. He's an old-school conservative, what we now call Libertarian. His ideas about a small, efficient government, and concentrating on domestic issues are clearly winning him support from the public. If he wins, it will be because he combines his ideas with a less-goofy personality and somehow escapes the thumb of the Republican machinery.

The Others
Gov. Huckabee is not quite a contender, but still far above the hopes of Brownback, Tancredo, Gilmore, Hunter and Thompson. Huckabee got in the great one-liner about Edwards. I like Edwards, but the joke at his expense worked well. He did an excellent job of defending his record in Arkansas when attacked by Gilmore. Tancredo thinks his opinions on immigration can propel him to the White House. He should concentrate on convincing Congress to actually do sometehing about immigration, because he's not going to beat the top contenders. Gilmore came across as a bit silly, not just because of his attacks, but because he referred viewers to a blog to get answers instead of giving them at the debate. Hunter Whoever. Gov. Thompson may have a good resume, but he just seems a bit lost. His answers are scatter-brained, and he doesn't appear very interested to be there. No charisma whatsoever.