DEARBORN - Some snippets of spin from the players in The Alley last night:

Saul Anuzis, Chair of the Michigan Republican party: "Thompson probably exceeded or at least met expectations." Anuzis also said he thought that the debate didn't change the dynamics of the race, saying, "The leading candidates are still the leading candidates."

Rich Galen, spinning for Fred Thompson: "He did way, way more than he needed to. Even with a pretty good job of setting expectations low, we could have set expectations very high and he still would have cleared the bar."

Chip Saltzman, spinning for Mike Huckabee: "It was a good debate for us. It's a lot of issues that he obviously cares a lot about. So it was a good night for us, but I still think it's challenging for somebody to sit through two hours and watch that and be able to tell you who said what."

Gov. Paul Cellucci, spinning for Rudy Giuliani: "The Mayor is being honest with the people, saying look, 'We need a Constitutional amendment.' And when he was Mayor of New York City he had an obligation to protect the people of New York City.That's why he took on Bill Clinton, because it was not done in a Constitutional way...The Supreme Court is quite clear: if you want a line item veto, you need a Constitutional amendment. That's what Rudy supports, and that's what he's going to try to get accomplished. So he's being straight with Republican primary voters."

I asked Cellucci if he meant, by implication, that Mitt Romney was not being "straight" about the line item veto. Cellucci reponded, "I mean, I think it's pretty clear. You can read The Supreme Court opinion for yourself. It's very clear. I think Mitt Romney and his campaign can read it as well and figure it out."