Concord, N.H.

This was actually an important debate—much more so than last night’s. Not because it’s likely to alter the outcome of the New Hampshire vote—it isn’t—but because it gives us a first real glimpse of what the dynamic might be like in two weeks after the field collapses down to three or four candidates. And that dynamic is very, very different from what we’ve grown accustomed to.

Mitt Romney: Had a very tough first 10 minutes, during which he tried selling the following line: He didn’t seek reelection as governor of Massachusetts because he had accomplished everything he wanted and was ready to step away from political life. This is, on its face, absurd: Romney’s unfavorables in Massachusetts made a successful reelection run in 2006 highly unlikely. And besides, by that time he was already traveling extensively in Iowa and New Hampshire, laying the groundwork for his 2008 presidential run.