Michele Bachmann Misses Chance to Hit Rick Perry on Immigration

Before Rick Perry and Mitt Romney tangled on immigration, two Republican presidential candidates -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia -- tackled it first.

Bachmann did not directly attack either Perry or Romney on the issue, while Gingrich continued his debate strategy of praising his rivals -- in this case, Bachmann.

Bachmann scored points when she went after Perry in previous debates. In the first half of the debate on Thursday night, she has been pulling her punches. Supporters of the underdog candidates have bashed the media for saying it is a two-man race. The problem is, their candidates acted in the first half of the debate like its a two-man race.