Jonah Goldberg manages to perfectly encapsulate Newt pre-debate:

Newtzilla is a different kind of kaiju (Japanese for "strange beast" or "giant monster") but not that different. Like Godzilla, Newtzilla has remarkable healing powers, allowing him to recover from charges that he wanted an open marriage and that he parasitically fed on Freddie Mac.

It's worth a read. The debate tonight showed that Newtzilla can actually dance with the punches, absorb plenty of tank-fire, and oddly enough, even withhold snapping back with his trademark atomic breath.

But for how long?