The two most striking things about last night's debate were, 1) the virtual absence of Rick Perry, and 2) the utter dominance of Herman Cain's completely unrealistic and dangerous 9-9-9 plan. In fact, regarding the latter, the number 9 was spoken 102 times, according to ThinkProgress.
Meanwhile, Rick Santorum said we should "go to war with China" during a rant about trade. I think he meant it figuratively, but when a nation like China owns a considerable portion of our debt, it's not particularly smart to mention going to war with that nation.
Michele Bachmann thinks that, under Obamacare, a 15-member panel (a "death panel"?) will make healthcare decisions for all 300 million Americans. If she's right (she's not) then each panel member will be responsible for organizing healthcare for 20 million people. Good luck, panel-members!
And the coverage was predictable. They evidently had a team of reporters who were feverishly fact-checking the candidates, but we were only treated to one checked fact. Meanwhile, there was zero analysis as to whether or not any of the Republican economic proposals were actually practical, workable solutions. That's exactly what voters need to hear in these things. Instead of telling us that a candidate made up a statistic, how about telling voters whether 9-9-9 will work or not.
And finally, here's Politifact's fact-check tally.