Iowa Republican Debate Predictions

The Republican Debate in Iowa is tonight and as someone who loves politics, I can't wait. I'll probably order a pizza and have a frosty beverage on hand while watching what happens tonight.

It's not that I love debates really. Debates for the most part are awful. A 60 second answer here, 30 second rebuttal there, please you don't really learn much at all. We should rename our modern debates and just call them campaign commercials. That's basically what they are anyway.

So why is it that I can't wait for tonight? Well, I believe the gloves will be coming off tonight. The candidates will all be trying to grab a piece of the spotlight.

Below, you will find ten of my predictions about tonight's debate. Here we go.

1. Mitt Romney and Rick Perry will be attacked. Up until now Republicans have had a pretty civil process. That will start to unravel tonight. It won't turn into a brawl, but both Romney and Perry will be challenged.

2. Rick Santorum will go after Perry. Santorum is already making the mistake of taking on Rick Perry when it comes to gay marriage. They basically agree, but Perry's stance isn't good enough for Santorum.

3. Santorum will disappear. After tonight, Santorum is done. All he talks about is gay marriage and right now American's don't care. Bye Santorum.

4. Gingrich will sound the smartest and still only get about 4-8% support.

5. Ron Paul will win the debate. At least when it comes down to online voting. He won't get the nomination, but he will win the internet vote.

6. Mitt Romney will play it safe. Romney is the front-runner and will act like it. I don't see his numbers going down until he faces Perry on stage.

7. Michele Bachmann will continue to do well. The one thing that hurts Michele Bachmann is Rick Perry.

8. Tim Pawlenty will come out swinging. If he doesn't do well in Iowa, he is toast and he knows that.

9. Herman Cain will do better. Watch for Cain to have a better performance than he did in New Hampshire. He is still done, but his numbers might improve.

10. It should be all about the economy, but it won't be. Most American's are focusing in on the economy and that should be the primary topic in tonight's debate. However, many of these candidates agree on the economy so it won't make for good TV. Watch for the social issues to come up about 30-40 minutes into the debate.

Happy watching and let me know what you think of the debate.