Mitt Romney won the CNN debate in Arizona tonight. He went on the offensive against against Rick Santorum, and in many cases had very powerful responses to the criticisms that were heaped on him. On more than one occasion, the pair interrupted each other several times and tried to talk over the other in escalating urgency. Most of the time though, Romney came away with the applause line. Here were the defining moments where Romney “rominated” Santorum. 

1. Earmarks. Santorum and Romney got into a heated exchange on earmarks, with both of them accusing each other of covertly favoring the process and offering no change. Santorum talked about how he had utilized earmarks on occasion and that he was proud of the earmarks that he chose to defend, such as the Osprey VTOL project. Romney though was at a huge advantage, having never interacted with the Washington system. He was free to advocate an extreme no earmark position, because he has never had to deal with the practicalities of satisfying district constituents. Santorum tried to say that Romney's solution was the same as the procedure as it already existed, but Romney questioned him on stage into admitting that there was a striking difference to Romney's proposal. The applause line that won this skirmish was Romney's pronouncement that “while I was fighting for the Olympics, you [Santorum] were fighting for the bridge to nowhere.”

2. Auto Bailouts. Rick Santorum charged Romney with hypocrisy. He asked why Mitt Romney opposed the auto-bailout but supported the bank bailout. But Romney had a clear two part answer that started with “Nice try but now let's look at the facts.” Romney outlined how he was against the government writing a $50 billion check for auto company executives. Then he talked about why he did rescue the banks, which is that the entire financial system was at risk of collapse. He pointed out that Santorum was in favor of the airline bailout, and he used that fact to illustrate the point that some bailouts are needed in emergency situations. Santorum did have a smart retort, which is that the government shut down the airline industry (and the same did not hold for the bank industry which imploded on its own), but Romney eventually won this skirmish by impersonating the auto executives and mocking their need for funding. He said, “Oh no, we can't go through managed bankruptcy,” as if speaking from the mouths of industry leaders, and the crowd loved it.

3. Health care. Santorum got very passionate in charging Romney with creating in Massachusetts the model for Obamacare, but Romney had the usual retorts plus a new maneuver. His usual arguments, were, as in the past, pretty weak. He said that Obama's bill was longer (maybe because it was federal) and that there plenty in Obamacare that he didn't like (but which parts?). His new strategy though was to link Santorum to Obamacare by pointing out the former senator's support for Arlen Specter, who eventually voted for Obamacare. Presumably, Pat Toomey would not have. The applause line that won for Romney was when he told Santorum to “look in the mirror” if he wanted to blame someone for Obamacare.  

Santorum rips Romney on healthcare in the Florida debate. 

Photo Credit: CNN Debate