GOP Candidates Swing Away In Myrtle Beach Debate

Mitt Romney was cut in the first round, but never knocked down by Rick Santorum.

Newt Gingrich withstood early challenges to his criticisms of Romney's Bain record.

Rick Perry turned in a gaffe-less performance.

Aand Ron Paul gave as good as he got in a Myrtle Beach debate, a nearly two-hour affair on Fox News that was heavy-hitting, though whether or not it was game-changing remains to be seen.

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The opening salvo set the tone for the entire debate at Myrtle Beach Convention Center, as Gingrich was questioned by Bret Baier on his criticisms of Romney's record at Bain Capital, which has been accused of gutting struggling businesses.

"Well, first of all, I think that the staying positive through Iowa — through three $3.5 million of negative attacks — prove you either have to unilaterally disarm and leave the race, or bring up your competitors' record," Gingrich said.

"It struck me raising those questions, giving me an opportunity to answer them is exactly what campaigns ought to be about. And we need to satisfy the country that whoever we nominate has a record that can stand up to Barack Obama in a very effective way."

But Romney effectively explained his record at Bain as being merely a function of enterprise capitalism — there are successes and failures when investing in businesses.

"My record is out there, proud of it, and I think if people want to have someone who understands how the economy works, having worked in the real economy, that I'm the guy that can best post up against Barack Obama," Romney said.

But it wasn't the last time Romney would be tested. Perry, Gingrich and Santorum would do their best to corner the former Massachusetts governor, the prohibitive favorite to win the nomination, with Santorum landing the most blows early on.

Santorum took Romney to task for the advertisements Romney's super political action committee had run against him that criticized the former Pennsylvania senator for supporting convicted felons' rights to vote should they satisfy their terms of probation or parole.

Santorum directly asked Romney if he believed such people should not have the right to vote. When Romney appeared to skirt the question, Santorum quickly interrupted.

"Answer the question," Santorum directed him.

Ultimately, Romney said he believed those convicted of violent offenses should not be allowed to vote.

Next, it was Perry's turn, who told Romney he ought to release his income tax records.

"We've got records. My record is one of those that has been open to the public for quite a few years," Perry said. "And as a matter of fact, my income tax has been out every year. Newt, I think you're going to let your income tax come out Thursday. Mitt, we need for you to release your income tax so the people of this country can see how you made your money."

Romney provided an inexact answer that seemed to point toward him disclosing his tax records later in the year, but didn't firmly commit to it.

"I think I've heard enough from folks saying, 'Look, let's see your tax records.' I have nothing in them that suggests there's any problem, and I'm happy to do so. I sort of feel like we are showing a lot of exposure at this point. And if I become our nominee, and what's happened in history is people have released them in about April of the coming year and that's probably what I would do," Romney said.

Negative advertising was cited frequently during what was often a contentious debate.

Romney told Gingrich a documentary released by one of his super pacs, "King of Bain," was "the biggest hoax since Bigfoot," while Gingrich alluded to Romney's confessed inability to stop his super pac's negative ads by saying it "makes you wonder how much influence he'd have as president."

But Paul didn't back down from his attack ads against Santorum when they were mentioned.

"I had one problem — I couldn't get all the things I wanted to say within one minute," Paul said.

Paul criticized Santorum for his failure to support right-to-work legislation, as well as his vote in favor of the regulatory Sarbanes-Oxley bill.

"My only regret is I couldn't get as much in, in that one minute as I should have," he added.

Santorum responded by saying that many of Paul's attack ads quote left-wing organizations, which he takes as a point of pride, but conceded that he had  made mistakes, such as when he voted for No Child Left Behind, which he now believes should be repealed.

"I admit, I'm a strong conservative," Santorum said. "I'm not perfect."

But Paul had his weak moments. While advocating for a more limited foreign policy based on the "Golden Rule," he was loudly booed for putting the onus on the United States for unnecessary aggression overseas.