ST. ANSELM COLLEGE, NH - In the brief interlude between the two debates, here's a quick take on the GOP's winners and losers:

Winner: Barack Obama: the GOP field spent a good chunk of the second half of the debate mulling over a scenario involving Barack Obama as the nominee of the Democratic party. Romney, and particularly Huckabee, went out of their way to praise Obama for the message of hope he's been pushing. Obama couldn't buy the kind of legitimacy he received tonight - and what a change from a few months ago when the GOP field couldn't stop talking about Hillary Clinton and Obama never received a mention.

Winner: McCain: the guy with all the mojo in New Hampshire didn't take any hits tonight, he successfully navigated the question of illegal immigration, and he fired off two devastating shots at Mitt Romney. It's hard to see how McCain doesn't exit the debate the same way he entered it: the leader of the GOP field.

Loser: Mitt Romney: he took a beating as a flip flopper tonight, with Huckabee, Giuliani, and McCain all landing heavy blows. Ironically, Romney had a couple of the better answers during the debate on radical Islam and healthcare, but they were washed away by the hits he took which will most likely dominate the headlines.

Huckabee had a decent night, though it's hard to say he did anything to set himself apart from the rest. Ditto Giuliani and Thompson, who both performed well but not well enough cause some sort of dramatic shift in their standing in the polls.