If ABC News decided they wanted fireworks, they succeeded. This morning's debate, broadcast from Drake University, was the last chance for some of the second-tier candidates to show themselves off in advance of next weekend's straw poll in Ames. And just moments after ABC's George Stephanopoulos introduced the candidates, they started going for the jugular.

If there's any way to get Republicans to try and out-flank each other, abortion is it. The debate lead off with a robo-call Kansas Senator Sam Brownback's campaign is phoning around Iowa accusing Mitt Romney of being something less than pro-life. And despite a Washington Post/ABC News poll of Iowa voters showing Romney's 26% leading the field in Iowa by a wide margin, Romney wasted no time in fighting back, at times talking over Brownback and defending his positions. "I get tired of people who are holier than thou because they've been pro-life longer than I have," Romney said. By engaging Brownback, who didn't back down from the charges, and by failing to adequately explain his accusation that the calls contained false information, Romney handed the exchange to Brownback on a silver platter, allowing a second-tier candidate to finally land a glove on a front-runner.

Stephanopoulos also sought to draw distinctions between front-runners Giuliani and Romney. Asked to comment on whether they agreed with Senator Barack Obama's statement that he would take action in Pakistan to take out al Qaeda, the two, who initially offered statements that differed, downplayed their differences and went after Obama.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul and California Congressman Duncan Hunter, two members of Congress with polar opposite views on the war in Iraq, sparred several times on the country's future in Iraq. Hunter, the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, won loud applause for his backing of the use of force in Iraq and Afghanistan and his support for Pakistan's military. Paul, who has opposed the war, heard equally loud applause -- and some of the only audible boos of the day -- for his call to get troops out.

Hunter did not directly engage Paul, who himself seemed to lecture the audience more than engage other candidates. But on two occasions, Romney sought to take on the Libertarian. Both times, Romney reminded Paul that terrorists attacked America. For his part, Paul focused his attacks on "neo-conservatives," who he mentioned about half a dozen times.

At times, some candidates sounded themes that wouldn't have been terribly out of place in a Democratic debate. Brownback called for a solution in Iraq that relied on a divided nation with a federal city in Baghdad, a plan that sounded remarkably like Senator Joe Biden's plan for partition. Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who came in with a strong 8% in the pre-debate poll, advocated for energy independence. "Every time someone in this room goes to the gas pump, you make the Saudi royal family a little wealthier," Huckabee said.

The front-runners, under almost constant assault from those who stood to the side of the stage, used their ammunition to attack traditional boogeymen. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, citing an article suggesting progress was being made in Iraq, joked that he had to make sure it appeared in the pages of the New York Times. Romney, referring to Democratic Senator Barack Obama's recent foreign policy statements, got in a zinger: "He's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week."

One candidate whose voice did not stand out was Senator John McCain. The Arizona Republican, joining his fellow candidates for the first time since the near implosion of his campaign during the month of July, seemed subdued. He took one shot at Vice President Dick Cheney, when given the chance, but rarely jumped into the fray with other candidates. That, coming a week before a straw poll in which he is not participating, put McCain at the bottom of the pile after the debate.

As Stephanopoulos closed the debate, second-tier candidates found themselves again without having scored a knockout. Romney and Giuliani performed to expectations. Huckabee, as always, spoke humorously and movingly. His chief opponent for social conservative votes, Brownback, hit talking points valuable to the religious right. Paul and Hunter stood out for their polarization on Iraq.

With six days until the Ames straw poll, the debate seems only to have served to boost expectations for Romney. Though judging from reaction from the audience, Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, Huckabee, Brownback and others may turn in stronger than expected showings. The question, then, is from whom they draw their votes. Will it be each other, preventing anyone from breaking out of the pack? Or will it be Romney, knocking a front runner down a peg?