It wasn't hard to tell who was the target in Monday night's Republican debate as the GOP hopefuls took aim at Texas Gov. Rick Perry, attacking him on a variety of issues in a CNN-Tea Party debate that turned raucous at times in Tampa, Florida.
This was the most action-packed debate yet for the GOP field, as the night included not only direct jabs at Perry on Social Security, but lively jousting over illegal immigration and more.
For the frontrunners, Social Security - and the words being spoken about the government retirement system - made waves right off the bat.
"It has been called a ponzi scheme by many people long before me," Perry said of Social Security, as he again stuck with his contention that the retirement program isn't functioning properly.
"But the question is, do you still believe that Social Security should be ended as a federal program as you did six months ago when your book came out and returned to the states or do you want to retreat from that?" pressed Mitt Romney, who again came out swinging at Perry.
"I think we ought to have a conversation," said Perry, who accused Romney of trying to scare senior citizens.
"Governor, the term ponzi scheme is what scared seniors," Romney countered, as the former Massachusetts Governor had another fairly strong debate performance.
Later, Perry heard boos and catcalls when he defended a state of Texas plan that gives in-state tuition to illegal immigrants attending college there, as Romney and Michelle Bachmann moved in tandem to attack Perry.
"I think that the American way is not to give taxpayer subsidized benefits to people who have broken our laws or who are here in the United States illegally," said Bachmann, who tried to re-energize her bid for the White House.
Later, Bachmann joined with Rick Santorum to blast Perry about how he handled the approval of a cancer vaccine for young girls, a vaccine that many social conservative strongly object to.
In her criticism of Romney, Bachmann accused him of approving the HPV caccine in exchange for sizeable campaign contributions funneled through a former aide who worked for the company that produced the vaccine.
"I raise about $30 million," Perry said in a calm voice, but with a deep stare at Bachmann. "And if you're saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I'm offended."
Early in the debate, it looked like Bachmann was going nowhere, as she missed a chance to attack Perry on Social Security, then seemed to disappear until the immigration and HPV vaccine issues came up.
One of the more interesting moments of the debate came when Ron Paul was loudly heckled by the Tea Party crowd in Tampa, dissatisfied with his answer that U.S. foreign policy was partly to blame for the Nine Eleven attacks.
"You said that it was our actions that brought about the actions of 9/11," said Rick Santorum, who angrily denounced Paul.
“Congressman Paul, that is irresponsible," Santorum added, saying "we stand for freedom and opportunity for everybody around the world, and I am not ashamed to do that."
"As long as this country follows that idea, we're going to be under a lot of danger," said Paul to boos and shouts from the crowd, as his somewhat isolationistic foreign policy explanation did not wash with the Tea Party audience.
It was a rare public rebuke for Paul, who usually enjoys extra-vocal support at the GOP debates.
As for Herman Cain, in the early going, he was stronger than Bachmann, but never had anything involving himself and either Romney or Perry that came close to a "magic" debate exchange.
In fact, his most memorable line may have been at the end of the debate, when the candidates were asked what unique thing they would bring to the White House, if elected.
"I would bring a sense of humor to the White House, because America is too uptight," said Cain, who remains back in the second-tier in the polls, but won a lot of applause from the Tea Party crowd.
The same could be said for Newt Gingrich, who again delivered a series of good debate lines - he is good in these political debates - but was there one that changes his trajectory in this race?
The larger issue for Cain and Gingrich may be that there was a guy from Texas - with a big bullseye on his back albeit - who was getting strong support last night as well.
"People are tired of spending money we don't have on programs we don't want," said Gov. Perry, getting cheers as he led Republicans in giving a thumbs down to the new Obama jobs plan.
Perry definitely took a lot of shots from his colleagues, as Wolf Blitzer of CNN did all he could as the moderator to spur that kind of conflict.
At the end, Perry was still standing, though his hair had been messed up a little.
But the polls still show him the leader. He may get to reprise that role in the next GOP debate - a week from Thursday night in Orlando, Florida.
