Liveblogging…

All in all, this was a horrible debate that did a disservice to the voters. Matthews said he would be unbiased and independent, but an analysis would show he was certainly biased against Governor Huckabee.

6:00 PM – Debate Ends

5:59 PM – They taunt Thompson some more over his late entry. Funny

5:55 PM – Governor Huckabee describes his plan to improve air travel.

5:54 PM – Romney makes an excellent joke about Senator Thompson. Line of the night!

5:49 PM – Ron Paul says he won’t support a pro-war GOP Nominee

5:49 PM – McCain fails to hear another question. Ouch!

5:43 PM – Huckabee addresses the SCHIP program.

5:36 PM – McCain doesn’t hear the question. This can’t help his age image.

5:35 PM – Sam Brownback to Tom Tancredo: “My mother is not an illegal immigrant”.

5:29 PM – Huckabee speaks on the role of unions.

5:23 PM – Thompson described as being “one of the few willing to talk specifics”? since when?

5:14 PM – McCain talking about “trust to secure the borders”?

5:13 PM – Huckabee talks about the American Dream.

5:07 PM – AMEN! Huckabee is given a question regarding ethanol. He asserts that we need to work toward energy independence in the next decade.

5:04 PM – How is Senator Brownback, who raised less money than Huckabee this quarter and was humiliated at the Iowa Straw Poll, getting more questions than Huckabee?!!?

4:57 PM – Finally heard from Governor Huckabee, albeit in another roundtable question regarding Iran… Huckabee asserts strength…

4:51 PM – Brownback now has more questions than Huckabee, who is still waiting on a question. This is ridiculous!

4:35 PM – Hearing from Huckabee on a “down the line” question finally after 22 minutes… Guess they couldn’t find many moral issues to talk about in an economic debate.

4:31 PM – Haven’t heard from Huckabee in nearly 20 minutes. This seems a little unfair.

4:28 PM – John McCain is really impressing me tonight. He is assertive and seems like he understands the issues and the concerns of everyday people. He even made a funny. He did use that “my friends” line.

4:25 PM – Maybe Senator Thompson should’ve waited until the next debate to speak…
4:17 PM – Why is Senator Brownback still included in the debates?

4:13 PM – Huckabee is articulate and passionate when describing the fair tax. He contrasts sharply with Fred Thompson by saying that the economy needs work and showing he understands that the struggles of ordinary Americans.

4:08 PM – Chris Matthews asks Rudy Giuliani whether Joe Torree will keep his job. Although this is important to me as a Yankee fan, I don’t think this is exactly a critical issue.

4:03 PM – Fred Thompson stumbles while making the case that the economy is heading for a downturn.