Huckabee and Romney got into a sparring match over which one cut taxes or raised taxes or raised fees... (click here for bloomberg.com commentary)

Huckabee seemed evasive about how he handled taxes while Governor of Arkansas. Romney went after him in a direct manner and Huckabee didn't answer his questions about how much he raised taxes.

Huckabee seems to want to paint any questions or concerns about his record as negative attacks. He needs to be better prepared going forward to answer questions directly. Continued refusal to respond quickly with actual number answers will turn people off.

Huckabee's tax proposal, the Fair Tax, intrigues many people. The abolition of all withholding taxes sounds great. The question becomes how simple would a national sales tax really be and how would the "prebates" really work? His estimate of the tax seems low based on estimates by many economists. (click here for Washington Post editorial)

Would the American people readily adjust, psychologically, to paying a tax on their Friday night babysitter? What about on health care? How about groceries? Even if his plan made sense, which I am not conceding at this point, it is so drastic that it seems impossible to implement.

My verdict: Romney beat Huckabee on the tax issue.