SUNDAY MORNING'S GOP DEBATE BEFORE NEW HAMPSHIRE MORE POINTED THAN LAST NIGHT'S............

This morning's second debate within twelve hours between the six candidates for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination, was a much livier exchange of views, with fire focused on frontrunner Mitt Romney.  Newt Gingrich seemed to find it hard at the start to directly confront Romney very agressively in his opening answer to David Gregory's first question if Romney is the strongest candidate to face President Obama in the fall.  But Rick Santorum took his response directly to Romney's unsuitability.  Jon Huntsman also came out punching away at Romney, and then less directly, Ron Paul, and Rick Perry.  Although, they put Romney much more on the defensive, it is unclear whether they diminished him sufficiently for it to make a substantial difference in the commanding lead Mitt Romney holds in the polls; but then that's what primaries and caucuses are meant to determine.  Tuesday night in New Hampshire will give us a more prescient view of whether or not this will be a short or long nominating season on the way to the Republican National Convention, in Tampa, Florida in September............Fr.  Troy