Rick Perry Swings at Mitt Romney on Health Care, But Misses

The Republican presidential debate is entering its fourth quarter and Michele Bachmann is continuing her attacks against Rick Perry for backing a vaccination for schoolgirls in Texas. Perry responded with a new defense, revealing that a 31-year-old woman lobbied him on the issue. He responded with his repeated line from the last defense: I erred on the side of life.

Mitt Romney had been on the sidelines for most of the debates on health care, but when asked about comments from Perry, he fired away at the Texas governor. He offered a defense of the law he signed in Massachusetts as being different from federal health care. Perry then went after Romney for being inconsistent -- but his answer seemed hesitant.

Romney fired away at Perrys attacks and pointed out he was a businessman -- and Perry was a politician. Romney also hit Perry for changing his positions in the last six months.

Perry should have scored a knockdown here, but he botched his attack and Romney took advantage with an aggressive response. Score the round for Romney.