GOP fight night in Las Vegas

Las Vegas -- The Republican presidential field's Mr. Nice, Herman Cain, vowed to go on the attack early Wednesday morning, after an often sharp-tempered debate among the seven rivals.
"They're getting on my last nerve," he told CNN's Carol Costello after opponents criticized his "9-9-9" tax reform plan.
Their attacks on him suggest "they don't have a real convincing plan" and that they had not studied his thoroughly, he said after the debate.
"Show me your analysis that shows it won't work," said Cain, who is running near the top of the field in several recent polls.
Cain, a former Godfather's Pizza executive, may not help himself by adopting the combative stance used by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Two undecided debate watchers complained about the tone of the candidates, saying they wanted substance, not attacks.
"I was a little tired of it," said Tracy Smith. "I wanted to hear more about the issues... instead of sparring back and forth."
Bill Sidhu agreed, asking: "Where do the candidates stand on the real issues?"

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Neither was committed to a candidate yet, they said, though Smith said she was interested in hearing more from Cain and Romney, and described herself as "a little over Rick Perry at this point, but it's still a very fluid situation."
CNN senior political contributor Ron Brownstein, on the other hand, said the debate was the beginning of Perry recovering himself.
The seven candidates clashed sharply over issues such as illegal immigration, taxes and health care at the debate in Nevada sponsored by CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference.
The long-standing bad blood between Romney and Perry boiled over in the debate's first hour as the two GOP heavyweights traded harsh accusations and showed flashes of anger.


None of the other candidates called him on that statement, but the suggestion that he worried about having illegal workers at his home only for political reasons could come back to haunt him.


Perry wasn’t the only candidate to go after Romney, and Romney wasn’t the only candidate to be targeted. Early in the debate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum repeated the by-now well-rehearsed charge that Romney’s Massachusetts health-care reform was a model for President Obama’s reform, then kept interrupting Romney as he tried to respond, in his typical pit-bull debate mode. The attack by Mr. Santorum, a long shot for the nomination, and Romney’s testy pleas for time to respond turned out to be a preview of the Perry-Romney smackdown.


Businessman Herman Cain also faced withering attacks on his 9-9-9 tax plan, but he kept his cool. Mr. Cain has been surging in the polls, and in some, he leads the field. He was expected to be the one with the bull’s-eye on his back in Las Vegas. But the dynamic of the debate, with Romney taking incoming from multiple directions, appeared to show a consensus that he is the true front-runner – with the money, organization, and résumé that could potentially take him all the way to the nomination.


Perry also has the war chest – $17 million raised in the last quarter – to stay in the hunt for the long haul, but his late campaign start and earlier debate gaffes damaged his effort. On Tuesday night, he showed a bit of the mojo that had earned him a reputation as a formidable campaigner in Texas. Now the question is, will voters who left Perry’s side give him a second look. And will Romney, who had sailed easily through the debates until Tuesday, find a smoother way to respond when his competitors turn into attack dogs.