Romney 's strongest moments of the debate when he highlighted how his economic plan would help the middle class . He underscored that the middle class has been hit the hardest by the economic downturn , so any presidential candidate should begin by focusing on helping them . Herman Cain is pretty clever in these exchanges . You can tell he has a few lines that are well rehearsed . In fact , when it was his turn to ask a question , I actually thought he might try to ask himself the question . That way he could insert 9-9-9 into both a question and an answer -LRB- which would be a feat even for him -RRB- . Instead he asked Romney if he could list off all 59 points of his plan . This question was designed to showcase the simplicity of Cain 's plan in comparison . The question was effective enough , but might have backfired when Romney used it to his advantage to say that simple answers are oftentimes inadequate . Romney took a unique approach . His question was directed at Michele Bachmann . On its face , it seems like a puzzling approach
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- My favorite part of academic debate has always been the cross-examination period . We got a little piece of that -LRB- but not enough -RRB- in the Republican presidential debate Tuesday hosted by Bloomberg and the Washington Post . The presidential hopefuls were allowed to ask an opponent one question . Mitt Romney faced seven opponents , and four of them directed their questions at him because he is seen as the frontrunner . While this can be a good idea in theory to try and trip up the frontrunner , it actually helped Romney . The only two people to get significant air time in the first hour were Romney and Herman Cain . So by asking Romney more questions , the other candidates gave him even more time to present his case to the public . The strategy of the other candidates might have worked if he was on the ropes or was stumbling in the debate , but Romney had not given his opponents any obvious openings . In his answers to the four questions from his opponents , Romney did well . His answer to Newt Gingrich 's question was one of