Leno or Conan?: Santorum Says Neither

Asked whether he watches Leno or Conan, Republican candidate Rick Santorum hesitated, said probably Leno, then added that he watched neither. That lighter moment came in the CNN-moderated (John King) first Republican presidential candidate debate from Manchesetdr, N.H., Monday night.

Santorum was the first to get a “this or that” question, which King said was just to get a sense of the personality of the candidate.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said that the media has tried to “wrongly and grossly” portray the Tea Party, which she said are people who simply want “to take the country back” and want it to “work again.”

CNN was mixing in questions from Facebook and Twitter as well as from New Hampshire residents at town hall meetings.

There were no limits on answers, only an honor system of about 30 seconds per answer, which meant King could frequently be heard trying to gently cut them off with an “alright, alright, alright, lets…” which often sounded like someone stuttering soto voce in the background. A bit distracting. I prefer lights or buzzers or perhaps slight electric shocks to their seats.

Candidate Newt Gingrich picked American Idol over Dancing With the Stars when asked for his “this or that.”

Oops, Mitt Romney just talked about turning Afghanistan over to the “Taliban military,” before quickly correcting himself.  Romney, by the way, chose spicy over mild wings, though he may have just not wanted to appear weak on chicken.