CNN and the Tea Party Express hosted a Republican presidential debate Monday night at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa. Here's a look at how the candidates did:
Breaking down the GOP presidential debate in Tampa
Breaking down the debate
| The candidate | Quote | Best moment | Biggest misstep | Rating the performance | |
| Michele Bachmann, 55 U.S. representative from Minnesota since 2007. Married with five children, 23 foster children. | On illegal immigration: "The American way is not to give taxpayer-subsidized benefits to people who broke our laws." | Questioning Perry's motivation for signing an executive order requiring young girls to receive a vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), suggesting it was to help a campaign donor. | Failing to show herself as a strong tea party alternative to Perry. | Effectively made her point that she has been a strong voice for repealing federal health care law and fighting against raising the debt ceiling. | |
| Herman Cain, 65 Former CEO and president of Godfather's Pizza; professional author, speaker. Married with two children. | On being an outsider: "People say you don't know how Washington works. Yes I do. It doesn't." | Presenting specific proposals for cutting health care costs and showing humor. | Suggesting that a regulatory review commission be stacked with people who have been "abused by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)." | Good performance. But still not top tier. | |
| Newt Gingrich, 68 | On the Perry/Romney fight about Social Security: "I'm not particularly worried about Gov. Perry or Gov. Romney frightening the American people when President Obama scares them every single day." | Stealing a moment away from Perry and Romney in the middle of their debate-inside-a-debate about whether Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. | Answering a question about taxes with position on energy independence. | Can deliver applause lines, but not sure why he's running. | |
| Jon Huntsman, 51 Former U.S. ambassador to China; former governor of Utah. Married with seven children. | On illegal immigration: "For Rick (Perry) to say you can't secure the border is pretty much a treasonous comment." | Touting his record leading Utah. | Asking if Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain ghost-wrote Gov. Romney's book, No Apology, a pop-culture reference probably lost on tea party crowd. | Not the crowd's cup of tea. | |
| Ron Paul , 76 U.S. representative from Texas; retired medical doctor. Married with five children, including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. | On ways to reduce spending: "We spend $1.5 trillion overseas in wars that we don't need to be in, and we need to cut there and then put this money back into our economy here." | Saying that as a Texas resident, his taxes doubled with Perry as governor. | Getting booed while trying to explain why America should accept some blame for the Sept. 11, 2011, terrorist attacks. | Performance showed precisely why so many people like him — and why it's so difficult to see him winning the nomination. | |
| Rick Perry, 61 Governor of Texas since 2000; former Air Force pilot; former cotton and wheat farmer. Married with two children. | On his plan as president: "I will use an executive order to get rid of as much of Obamacare as I can on Day 1." | Shooting back against Romney's attacks on his Social Security stance. | Saying he cannot be bought for a $5,000 donation. It begs the question: Is there a higher purchase price? | Nobody knocked him off stride, and they sure did try. A friendly crowd helped him along. | |
| Mitt Romney, 64 Former governor of Massachusetts; founded Bain Capital, a venture capital firm. Married with five children. | On Perry's jobs record in Texas: "If you're dealt four aces, it doesn't make you a great poker player." | Challenging Perry on his position on Social Security with direct questions. | Not landing any knockout blows on Perry. | A tea party audience isn't Romney's best crowd. Had to play a little more defense than he probably wanted. | |
| Rick Santorum, 53 Former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania; former U.S. representative. Married with seven children. | On President Barack Obama's economic record: "Some people say that Barack Obama's economy is a disaster. My feeling is it would have to be dramatic improvement just to be a disaster." | Attacking Perry for requiring HPV vaccine; saying it's "government run amok." | Failing to distinguish himself on a stage filled with more interesting characters. | Made the argument he could win in a blue state (Pennsylvania). But do GOP primary voters care? |
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