( CNN ) -- My favorite part of academic debate has always been the cross-examination period . We got a little piece of that ( but not enough ) in the Republican presidential debate Tuesday hosted by Bloomberg and the Washington Post . The presidential hopefuls were allowed to ask an opponent one question . Mitt Romney faced seven opponents , and four of them directed their questions at him because he is seen as the frontrunner . While this can be a good idea in theory to try and trip up the frontrunner , it actually helped Romney . The only two people to get significant air time in the first hour were Romney and Herman Cain . So by asking Romney more questions , the other candidates gave him even more time to present his case to the public . The strategy of the other candidates might have worked if he was on the ropes or was stumbling in the debate , but Romney had not given his opponents any obvious openings . In his answers to the four questions from his opponents , Romney did well . His answer to Newt Gingrich 's question was one of Romney 's strongest moments of the debate when he highlighted how his economic plan would help the middle class . He underscored that the middle class has been hit the hardest by the economic downturn , so any presidential candidate should begin by focusing on helping them . Herman Cain is pretty clever in these exchanges . You can tell he has a few lines that are well rehearsed . In fact , when it was his turn to ask a question , I actually thought he might try to ask himself the question . That way he could insert 9-9-9 into both a question and an answer ( which would be a feat even for him ) . Instead he asked Romney if he could list off all 59 points of his plan . This question was designed to showcase the simplicity of Cain 's plan in comparison . The question was effective enough , but might have backfired when Romney used it to his advantage to say that simple answers are oftentimes inadequate . Romney took a unique approach . His question was directed at Michele Bachmann . On its face , it seems like a puzzling approach , but I actually like the strategy . It gave air time to someone Romney does not think will be a factor , thereby taking time away from his main rivals . Plus , he simply asked Bachmann how she could help the economy by putting people to work , which guided her answer away from attacking Romney in her free time . It was a smart choice . Three of the candidates used their questions to also make solid points . Ron Paul asked Cain about his time spent chairing a Federal Reserve Bank , which is a negative with Paul . Paul 's question made the argument that he was correct all along about not trusting the Federal Reserve . Michele Bachmann used her question to attack Rick Perry and remind everyone that she has always been a conservative while Perry used to be a Democrat working for Al Gore . Rick Santorum also asked Cain a question that made an argument . As part of his question , he attacked the 9-9-9 plan by asking the audience who wanted to pay a 9 % sales tax . Santorum then asked the audience if they believed the federal government would stick to a 9 % income tax . He used their silence to question and attack Cain . Share your view on the debate . Rick Perry does n't seem to get any part of these debates right , and that included the section where he was allowed to ask any other candidate a question . Perry asked Romney a question about health care , but he failed to have depth in his question or attack . Perry failed to make a positive point about his own health care policy and forgot that in answering the question , Romney would get to freely blast away at the lack of health care for children in Perry 's home state of Texas . This was a perfect example of the person answering the questions turning it against the questioner . As is becoming a trend in these debates , Perry came out on the wrong end of that exchange . Presidential candidates should get to ask each other more questions in the future . Such an approach would add substance , and allowing follow-up questions by the candidates would be even better , since we could more easily judge the depth and knowledge of each candidate . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Todd Graham .
Cain : Candidates directed their questions at front-runner Cain . He says Romney handled the questions deftly . Perry says Graham seems well prepared while Graham fares poorly . He says candidates should get to ask each other more questions in the future .