Who won Tuesday’s Republican debate? According to many political experts, New York Senator Hillary Clinton won. No, she was not on the debate stage. Yes, she is a Democrat, but the Republication candidates said her name 11 times and mentioned no other Democratic candidate. This suggests Republicans see Clinton as the Democratic front runner. (What is a front runner? Read the glossary.)

Tuesday’s Republican debate was the first opportunity to see how Fred Thompson, a former U.S. senator representing Tennessee and the ninth candidate to enter the race for the party’s nomination, held up against his competition. Thompson’s entry had been expected for months and Thompson he felt he waited the right amount of time to announce his candidacy.

Despite the interest in Thompson, media articles following the debate suggested the highlight of the contest was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s exchange about taxes. Both candidates attacked the others’ record on the issue. Giuliani said that when he was mayor he reduced taxes, while Romney increased taxes as governor. Calling that “bologna,” Romney told Giuliani to check his facts.

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