Ed Kilgore on the Iowa debate, Ron Paul

GOP PRIMETIME: Ed Kilgore reflects on Ron Paul's performance in Iowa. "The biggest question is how much damage Ron Paul did to himself, right when he seemed to be breaking into a more mainstream Republican electorate, with his fiery remarks on foreign policy. The visual image of Mitt Romney, standing next to Paul and looking at him like a lab specimen as he defended Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear program, was striking. The loud hooting and cheering of Paul’s supporters in response to his most controversial (to conservatives) statements reinforced the idea that his is not a candidacy that’s ready, by any stretch, for the GOP primetime." And the others? "As for how the debate might have shaken up the calculus among the three contenders, Tim Pawlenty got off some good prefab lines at the expense of Barack Obama (and, to some extent, Romney), but his attacks on his main straw poll rival, Michelle Bachmann, were shrill and complicated, and the general impression is that Bachmann—who otherwise did not dazzle as she did in the last big debate in New Hampshire—got the better of their exchanges." Read on.

DEBATE FACTCHECK: One might be in order.