Five men take the stage tonight - and yes Ron Paul fans, your favourite is among them. Other contenders include John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee.
Expect to see McCain and Romney, the two leading contenders in Tuesday's Florida primary, jab at each other - McCain has rarely passed up an opportunity to mock Romney in previous debates, and seems to actively enjoy it. Of the others, Giuliani is fighting for relevance in Florida, as to a lesser extent is Huckabee. If previous debates are any guide, Paul will probably try to steer most questions onto his problems with printed money.
Follow the coverage from 9pm ET (2am GMT). Post your predictions and verdicts in the comments.
9.05pm: First question is on the economy. The candidates are asked on about tonight's deal on the Bush economic stimulus package. McCain gets ask if he will support it even though it includes the Bush tax cuts, his Achilles heal for many Republicans. He says he will but also wants to cuts in spending. Giuliani leaps in to say he doesn't think the tax cuts go far enough.
9.10pm: McCain says he can do national security and economics. "I am very well versed in economics. I was there in the Reagan revolution." So it is not all surge, in case you wondered.
9.15pm: Huckabee goes hyperlocal. He says construction projects on Florida highways using "American labour, American steel and American concrete" would provide economic stimulus (and make things easier for commuters).
9.16pm: Romney and McCain are reprising arguments over the Bush tax cuts. McCain says he voted against them initially because of a lack of spending restraints. Romney's game here is just make it clear McCain deviated at least once from Republican tax cutting orthodoxy.
9.17pm: Paul gets a special question from Tim Russert. I don't think it matters what it was. He talks about the madness of using the Federal Reserve to "monetise" debt (I think that means printing money) which is more or less what I was expecting.
9.20pm: Tame and mild mannered so far. And only one mention of Ronald Reagan. Giuliani says he is "pretty much in favour of trade", which seems a remarkable statement for a Republican to make. Only "pretty much"?
9.30pm: Paul says America is entering a "new era". And he doesn't mean in a good way - lot of talk about debt and a declining dollar. He says he is the only one on stage who never voted for a tax increase.
9.33pm: "Let us win," says McCain of the Iraq war.
9.35pm: Question: Was the war a good idea and worth the price in blood and treasure?
McCain says it was worth getting rid of Saddam Hussein but Donald Rumsfeld mishandled the first four years of the occupation. Giuliani says he was for the war when the polls backed it and for it when they turned against it - unlike Clinton. Paul says the war was wrong. Huckabee says Bush should be "thanked" for going against Saddam on the basis he could have been a threat ...
Wow - he's still going. Huckabee now uses a folksy Easter egg reference to suggest WMDs may have been there, but the UN, Iraq Survey Group, etc. weren't looking in the right places: "Just because you didn't find all the Easter eggs didn't mean they weren't there." Yes, because they are exactly the same thing. And the Bhutto assassination increased illegal immigration from Pakistan.
9.40pm: Russert was caught by a mic going into the break saying "unbelievable". Was it Huckabee's WMD routine or that some in the audience broke debate rules in the first half to applaud?
9.55pm: Candidates ask each other questions. McCain asks Huckabee why he supports a national consumption tax (aka the "fair tax"). Huckabee takes the opportunity to talk about end the black economy, the IRS, etc. Huckabee then asks Romney if he supports the second amendment on the right to bear arms - he says he does, but he would have signed a ban on assault weapons.
10pm: I can't quite work out that last section. Politically it shows what the candidates want each other to talk about, so good material for post-debate analysis, I suppose. Not so amazing to watch.
10.10pm: McCain asked why Republicans should vote for him. He says he won Republicans in New Hampshire and South Carolina and is proud to be a conservative but he "will put my country above my party" every time. He uses his opposition to Rumsfeld's Iraq strategy as an example.
10.15pm: Romney says he can beat Hillary Clinton by rebuilding the Reagan coalition. He will not answer a question on how much of his own money he has spent on Florida television advertising.
10.17pm: I concur with the title of Josh Marshall's post: Not enough fighting for my taste debate blogging.
10.20pm: Huckabee returns to Romney's contributions to his own campaign. He says Romney has five wonderful sons and since he has heard Romney say he wants them to inherit a great country he suggests a compromise - vote Huckabee for president, get a great country, and let Romney's sons inherit his wealth. It reminds me of something I read in the Onion. I wonder if Huckabee's gagwriters were reading it too?
10.25pm: Huckabee and McCain are having some sort of love-in. Huckabee is asked about Chuck Norris's comments that McCain is likely to die in office, and replies by paying tribute to McCain vigour. McCain then says he will get Sylvester Stallone, who has endorsed him, to go after Norris.
10.30pm: Giuliani says he is proud not have got the New York Times nomination because it would have meant he wasn't a true conservative Republican. Presumably this means that McCain, who secured the nomination of Giuliani's hometown paper, is not.
10.35: The debate ends. Quick analysis - lots on tax cuts, no huge McCain-Romney confrontation and McCain looked remarkably happy.
