The First GOP Debate in Review

I think the Daily Caller pretty well sums it up:

Pizza magnate beats actual elected officials in first GOP presidential debate -- If Thursday night's debate in Greenville, South Carolina, is any indication, GOP presidential candidates aren't ready to go bare-knuckle for the presidency. For instance: Given the chance to deliver a crippling gut punch to Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty (a product of meat-packing, in case you didn't hear him the first dozen times) whiffed. "Well, Governor Romney is not here to defend himself so I’m not going to pick on him or the position he took in Massachusetts,” Pawlenty said of his likely competitor's policy predecessor to Obamacare. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the light in every libertarian's eye, answered with word salad when asked about withdrawing from Afghanistan. “I believe that timetable should be tomorrow,” Johnson said, “though I realize that tomorrow may be several months.” Rick Santorum, who lost his Pennsylvania Senate seat in an avalanche in 2006, claimed to know a thing or two about "beating" unbeatable Democratic candidates, although we think he may have meant "losing to." Ron Paul railed against the fed and trial lawyers. Every debate must have a winner and a loser (and also a best in show), and to that end, pizza magnate Herman Cain was declared last night's winner by Frank Luntz's focus group, despite having nothing authoritative to say about the war in Afghanistan. 

There's no reason for the GOP to be debating this early in the cycle. It only gives the Democrats ammunition to use against the potential candidates.