GOP Debates Present Chance to Slow Romney's Momentum

We've got two debates this weekend.

One coming up in less than an hour and another in the morning. Rick Santorum will be featured front and center after his rousing showing in the Iowa caucuses. The rest of the GOP field --- now minus Michele Bachmann --- will be looking to get the hooks into the well-entrenched frontrunner Mitt Romney.

Here's a report, at Los Angeles Times, "New Hampshire debates: Will Romney's rivals try to slow him down?":

If anyone is going to take it to Mitt Romney, it might as well be now.

The slowly diminishing field of GOP presidential candidates, as odd as it may seem, has two debates that will begin within 12 hours of each other, just a couple of days before the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary.

Saturday evening’s debate, sponsored by ABC and Yahoo, will be held at St. Anselm College in Manchester; the Sunday morning tilt, co-sponsored by Facebook, will be held in Concord and shown live on MSNBC and then later on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Together, they represent a chance -- perhaps one of the few remaining ones -- for the other GOP contenders to dent Romney’s growing momentum.

Polls show Romney with a sizeable lead in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday’s primary and a new CNN-Time poll has him in the lead in South Carolina as well, raising the possibility that the question of the GOP standard bearer could be settled sooner, not later.

Romney felt confident enough about his chances in New Hampshire that he took time out this week to make a quick stop down in South Carolina before returning. It’s expected he’ll try to stay above the fray and keep his sights set on the economy and President Obama, leaving the other participants, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman Jr. and Rick Perry, to come after him.

Continue reading.

Also, at Legal Insurrection, "Pre-Debate."

BONUS: At The Other McCain, "Santorum Surge Hits Hollis, N.H."