The Republican presidential candidates sparred in a rambunctious debate on Tuesday. The GOP debate: 8 takeaways

Mitt Romney is one step closer to the finish line.

After a raucous debate in Myrtle Beach, S. C., the front-runner emerged with some bruises but his dignity and, more important, his status intact.


Below are POLITICO’s eight takeaways from the Fox News/Wall Street Journal debate.

1) Mitt Romney is in for a hard week

You could count on one hand the number of poor debates Romney has had out of the myriad debates he has taken part in.

Last night was one of them. While there were flashes of the confident Romney — he pivoted on a question about his flip-flops into talking about President Barack Obama, an imperfect segue but one that worked for him — Romney was under siege from almost the beginning of the debate. Among the questions he faced: Bain Capital, his record as Massachusetts governor, whether he would release his tax returns, and the super PAC negative ad blitz that’s being waged on TV.

One of his toughest moments came over the tax returns, when he hemmed and hawed about the tradition from past campaigns of releasing them in April, suggesting he may — or may not — do it then.

It was hardly a trick question, or even a surprise — several rivals had telegraphed hits on it throughout the day before the debate — but Romney still seemed uncertain in his response.

The only moment tougher than that? Rick Santorum’s rope-a-dope over an ad being aired by the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, which he used to engage Romney in a lengthy debate about whether felons who’ve served their time should have the right to vote.

The fact that Santorum was hitting Romney from the left was largely ignored — he led Romney right into an opposition-research trap based on the former governor’s record in office and rattled him.

As a bonus, Romney’s famous “varmint” hunt episode came up at the end.

Romney did manage to recover for some better moments, but overall it was not his best night — and it served as a reminder that he has thin skin when attacked. The good news for him? There’s only one debate left before South Carolina votes Saturday, when he could come close to wrapping up the nomination in a state that is hardly favorable terrain for his candidacy.

2) Newt Gingrich got his groove back

For one night, anyway. But it’s unlikely — though not impossible — that it will lift him high enough to stop Romney.

Gingrich had one of his best debates in a season of strong debate performances by the former House speaker.

Once again, he was boosted by the debate hall crowd, which he managed to bring to a standing ovation as he doubled down on his comments that poor children should be hired for part-time work in failing schools in their neighborhoods.

He lectured debate moderator Juan Williams on President Obama’s record, denounced “elites” and “liberals” who don’t want to help lift up poor people into finding good jobs. He seemed sure of himself as he pushed back on Romney over super PAC ads.

It didn’t begin that way for Gingrich, whose voice seemed to trouble him at the outset, and who was playing defense early on about why he’d abandoned his positivity pledge.

But, as he has often done, he found a way to bring the crowd to his side, and he fed off it.

3) Gingrich and Rick Santorum can’t resist attacking one another

They also, somewhat inexplicably, can’t seem to sustain an attack on Romney in these debates.

Both Gingrich and Santorum — especially the former Pennsylvania senator — landed blows on Romney at various points. But neither was able to keep a boot on the neck of the front-runner, choosing to pull back at clear and easy pile-on moments — like those Romney faced in the 2008 debates against Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

And toward the end of the debate, Gingrich and Santorum engaged in a fight over whose plan for deficit reduction is better.

Both men need to peel votes from the other, and as of now they’re not showing much ability to do that. Each would benefit by having the other drop out, but neither seems inclined to go there.

Had they been consistently at one another’s throats since Iowa, one of them might have managed to show primacy. But they have largely steered clear of frontal attacks — except for moments when some nastiness peeks through because they can’t help themselves.

4) Romney is still working on a strong answer to Bain questions

This was another inexplicable moment, since one would imagine Romney has gotten in some debate practice about his old firm.

But his response on jobs and how Bain handled companies was fairly meandering, and he resorted to pabulum about supporting the free enterprise system.

Most notably, Romney sounded uncertain and a bit nervous as he spoke — a fact that almost certainly did not go unnoticed by President Obama’s reelection team in Chicago (which also likely took notes on the specific points in the debate that rattled him).

Bain is, as the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes noted in a piece this week, Romney’s “calling card” in the race. It is the issue on which he will be defined, because he’s held it up for definition and, therefore, scrutiny.

Whether he is able to paint a compelling picture about the company he co-founded and what it did — and why it portends positively for what he would do in office — is critical to his campaign in a general election.

5) Rick Perry has improved, but far too late

The Texas governor had, again, a solid debate performance. And, again, it’s probably too late to matter.

But his note of solidarity with South Carolina about being “at war” with the federal government was a debate hall crowd-pleaser. He sounded smooth, prepped and familiar with the various topics he discussed — the economy, the war, the U.S. military.

His performance had two memorable moments. One probably rated as a negative: His decision to invoke brutally slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was gratuitous, and Pearl’s former colleagues and friends made their feelings known on Twitter shortly afterward.

Then there was a bizarre moment when he seemed to suggest that U.S. ally Turkey is led by an “Islamic terrorist.”

Otherwise, Perry was generally solid. If he is to experience a miraculous comeback this week, the recent debates would be a key reason why.

6) Ron Paul’s end game is unclear

Paul was, as always, clear in his anti-interventionist sentiment, wishes for smaller government and disagreement with U.S. policy on a number of topics.

He described the money spent on a U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as a “waste.” He offended the audience, which booed, as he discussed U.S. policy relating to the Sept. 11 attacks, by now a predictable refrain from the Texas congressman.

Yet Paul, who says he is running as a Romney alternative — and who is poised, based on campaign infrastructure — to be the eventual second-place finisher in delegates, once again stopped a line of attack against Romney early on.

The Bain-oriented question wasn’t geared toward a Romney attack, but Paul could have taken it there. Instead, he shifted to attacks on Santorum.

This may or may not have been an intentional move on Paul’s part. But it has become a pattern, and a notable one.

7) The debate over negotiating with the Taliban is a preview of what’s to come

At one point, moderator Bret Baier asked Romney about a statement made by one of his top foreign policy advisers that the Taliban could be “our enemy and our negotiating partner,” suggesting a settlement could, in the short term, be the best hope to end fighting in Afghanistan.

Asked whether his adviser is wrong, Romney replied, “Yes,” and said the U.S. should not negotiate with the Taliban “while the Taliban is killing our soldiers.” He also turned the line against Vice President Joe Biden.

This is not a national security election, but the killing of Osama bin Laden, the end of the war in Iraq and the Afghanistan conflict will remain potent backdrops in the general election. What Baier asked Romney is a preview of a debate that will play out between Romney as GOP nominee and Obama.

8) Super PACs remain a conundrum

It’s not clear that voters actually understand the super PAC issue or even care.

But Romney has now spent a handful of debates defending himself over questions about the super PAC that backs him, which is by far the best-stocked with cash of any of the outside groups backing candidates.

Campaign finance is unlikely to be a deciding factor in a general election that will center on the economy. But the Democrats, outmatched heavily in outside group fundraising, may find their best hope is trying to discredit the GOP groups.

Romney’s answer on super PACs — that he’d like to see the nation’s campaign finance laws changed — is likely to come up again down the road.