Cain continues to do things his way - I think this will only be the second time he's been in New Hampshire since a debate there in June. He hasn't been to Iowa since August.

Will Cain be a target tonight for any of those on the second tier? It will be interesting to see.

When Romney was the leader, no one laid a glove on him in a June or August GOP debate at all - maybe that will change tonight.

Romney's debating skills are certainly better than four years ago, when he looked and sounded awkward at times.

You can count on him having a few good zingers, and has shown the willingness to engage Rick Perry in the last three debates.

As for Perry, he supposedly has been doing more debate prep for this debate, which will be his fourth since joining the GOP field.

Perry has also has some good moments, taking on Romney and others. But the Texas Governor has also had some head-shaking times as well, when he got himself into a few verbal cul-de-sacs that prompted comparisons to George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush.

If this debate stays just on the economy, that could help Perry, so that he doesn't have to re-live his battles over immigration policy and the HPV vaccine that dogged him in the last three debates.

There will be another debate next Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Iowa is less than three months away.