Tonight in Tampa, Florida, eight Republican candidates will take the stage in a debate sponsored by CNN and The Tea Party Express. Questions will come from moderator Wolf Blitzer, however, questions will also be delivered by citizens in the audience and from Tea Party events around the country.
All eyes on Rick Perry and Mitt Romney at the first-ever CNN/Tea Party Republican Debate on Monday night.
The debate, which will take place at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, will also give the six other candidates on the stage a chance to change what many are portraying as a two-person race between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
It all started Wednesday night at a debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Perry, the new guy in the race and the current frontrunner in the national polls, and Romney, the previous frontrunner in the GOP battle, sparred over jobs and Social Security.
Perry stood by earlier comments that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and that it was a “monstrous lie” to tell young workers that the 74-year-old pension system would be there when they retire. Romney fired back, saying that “under no circumstances would I ever say by any measure it’s a failure. It is working for millions of Americans, and I’ll keep it working for millions of Americans.”
Since then, both candidates have swung at each other through e-mail and social media.
The two candidates will once again be standing side-by-side at Monday night’s CNN/Tea Party Republican Debate.