海角大神

Didn鈥檛 catch last night鈥檚 GOP debate in Las Vegas? We鈥檝e got you covered. After our liveblogging and a read through this morning鈥檚 papers (the best of which are linked to below), here鈥檚 your day-after reader for CNN鈥檚 鈥淲estern Debate.鈥�

1. Rick Perry - don鈥檛 call it a comeback.

Whether it was more sleep, more red bull or more cowbell (just kidding), this was a far different Rick Perry than we鈥檝e seen in the previous debates. He had a about illegal immigrants cutting his lawn, he was ready to take on Herman Cain鈥檚 鈥�999 Plan鈥� and while he sometimes lost his train of thought, he got his .

And Rick isn鈥檛 stopping there. He鈥檚 this week to meet with politicos and lobbyists and solicit their ideas on his jobs plan and foreign policy. And, as Decoder wrote in our wrapup last night, this next month or so until the next debate swaps Perry鈥檚 weakest tool (his debate persona) for his strongest suits (retail politics and bombing the airwaves with his massive campaign warchest.)

Could it be time for Rick to start his roll?

2. Herman Cain is apparently incapable of answering any question about foreign policy without fumbling. Hard.

Cain got a shellacking at the outset over his 鈥�999 Plan.鈥� Perhaps you could have seen that coming. But by far his worst debate moment was after the debate, when he said he 鈥渕isspoke鈥� on something he said only three hours before - that he would be willing to negotiate with a terrorist group holding an American soldier, potentially exchanging an American for many or all the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.

This is after some less-than-inspiring remarks on , among other foreign policy mishaps.

3. The longer Rick Santorum sticks around, the more nervous Romney, Perry and to some extent Cain, are going to be.

Rick Santorum is re-defining what it means to be playing with house money. He got after Cain right off the bat about 鈥�999鈥� not doing anything to help the American family, then he piled on Romney on healthcare:

The final point I would make to Governor Romney, you just don鈥檛 have credibility, Mitt, when it comes to repealing Obamacare. You are 鈥� you are 鈥� your plan was the basis for Obamacare. Your consultants helped Obama craft Obamacare. And to say that you鈥檙e going to repeal it, you just 鈥� you have no track record on that that 鈥� that we can trust you that you鈥檙e going to do that.

If there鈥檚 a good attack line unearthed by the media, you can bet Santorum is going to take it. Michelle Bachmann and Newt Gingrich criticize the frontrunners; Santorum scorches 鈥榚m.

4. Mitt Romney can have pretty thin skin.

We鈥檒l let Nate Silver of the New York Times鈥� fivethirtyeight blog :

"Mr. Romney鈥檚 worst moment came when Rick Perry in a somewhat non-sequitur attack where he accused Mr. Romney of having employed illegal immigrants at his home. The problem was not with the substance of Mr. Romney鈥檚 response but with his demeanor. Demonstrative to the point of appearing angry and somewhat red-faced under the stage lights, Mr. Romney grabbed Mr. Perry on the shoulder and seemed on the verge of losing his temper.

Controlled anger can sometimes work in a debate 鈥� Ronald Reagan鈥檚 exchange with a reporter in New Hampshire perhaps being the best example of this. But it is a high-risk, high-reward strategy, something that Mr. Romney does not need, and Mr. Romney was responding to a fellow Republican rather than to a moderator."

We noted this in the prior debate when Romney admonished Rick Santorum (鈥淚鈥檓 still speaking. I鈥檓 still speaking!鈥�) in a way that left Decoder feeling like Romney鈥檚 next move was to tell Santorum to go to his room and think about what he鈥檇 done.

What does this mean, in practical terms? Perhaps nothing. But was by far Romney鈥檚 least 鈥減residential鈥� moment of the campaign so far. Voters might not, to borrow from The Hulk, like Mitt when he鈥檚 angry.

And, as always, the best reads from around the web.

POLITICO鈥檚 Roger Simon : "Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright, the band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light. And somewhere folks are laughing, and somewhere children shout, but there is no joy in Vegas - - the GOP has struck out. Again."

海角大神's Linda Feldmann writes that "red-faced" Romney was "taken down a few notches" and compared the Perry-Romney duel to the post-game dust-up between the NFL coaches of the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

厂濒补迟别鈥檚 John Dickerson was , particularly by Herman Cain鈥檚 answers to criticism of his 999 Plan: 鈥淏ut this is like turning around Godfather鈥檚 Pizza by promising the pies will make themselves鈥�Sure, Cain can continue to push his plan. But if he can鈥檛 do a better job explaining and selling it, he might as well just give in to the notion of a fantasy campaign and promise he鈥檒l ride a unicorn in his inaugural parade.鈥�

The Washington Post鈥檚 Chris Cilizza thinks - Mitt Romney and 鈥淩ick Perry鈥檚 aggression.鈥� And, sadly, everybody else鈥�

Like your facts checked and served in digestible format? Read The Washington Post鈥檚 of statements from last night鈥檚 debate.

Did he really say that? Read CNN鈥檚 transcript of the whole event .

Like your politics unscrambled - with a side order of humor? Check out .