( CNN ) -- Monday night 's inaugural CNN/Tea Party Debate revealed more about the current Republican presidential field than we 've seen in any previous debate . In the same way that the tea party has dramatically changed the course of national politics , this debate could change the course of the presidential race . Texas Gov . Rick Perry , who is strongly embraced by the tea party , revealed Monday night what one might call a moderate or liberal side on a number of issues , opening the door to potential conservative criticism or perhaps an embrace from moderates . Picking up where the last debate left off , the battle lines were drawn early over Social Security . CNN 's Wolf Blitzer wasted no time in teeing up a Perry versus Mitt Romney showdown over Social Security reform . Perry stood by his original Social Security remarks , calling the program `` a broken system . '' He promised seniors that Social Security would remain intact under his watch , but said it needed real reform . In response , Romney revealed a new aggressive and combative side that we 've rarely seen before . Romney sharply attacked Perry 's use of the term `` Ponzi scheme , '' saying it is over the top , unnecessary , and frightens people . In response , Perry calmly replied that rather than scaring seniors , it 's time to have a legitimate conversation in this country about how to fix Social Security . Round one went to Perry , but it quickly changed after that . Michele Bachmann , founder of the Tea Party Caucus , was a crowd favorite all night . She moved to the right of Romney and Perry all night and made it a key point to emphasize personal responsibility over government oversight , winning loud applause from the crowd . While she refused to attack Perry 's comments about the Federal Reserve , she pulled no punches when it came to his decision requiring girls to get vaccinated for the HPV virus -- saying it was `` just flat out wrong '' and `` a violation of a liberty interest '' -- and accused Perry of catering to big pharmaceutical interests . Sen. Rick Santorum piggybacked off Bachmann 's comments and dealt some of the toughest shots against Perry all night . Santorum , a longtime champion of individual liberty , said Perry 's decision was `` big government run amok , '' receiving loud applause . It was one of Perry 's weaker moments , especially with the tea party crowd . Another tea party favorite , former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich , did well with the crowd . Gingrich continued his narrative against the mainstream liberal media and shunned any attempt to criticize his fellow Republicans , while playing smartly to the tea party 's vision of shrinking government to match revenue , not raising taxes to catch up with government spending , as he said . The most revealing moments of the debate occurred as the dialogue shifted from economic issues to immigration and foreign policy . Perry found himself in the hot seat after staunchly supporting a Texas law that grants in-state tuition to the children of undocumented immigrants , saying that immigration is a states ' rights issue . He also criticized a border fence as unrealistic , saying , `` The idea that you 're going to build a wall from Brownsville to El Paso and go left for another 800 miles to Tijuana is just not reality . '' Jon Huntsman railed against Perry , saying , `` For Rick to say that you ca n't secure the border I think is pretty much a treasonous comment . '' Bachmann joined in and compared Perry 's position on in-state tuition to the DREAM Act , supported by President Obama . And for the final blow , Romney said that Perry 's immigration plan would only promote and encourage an influx of illegal aliens . The topic of foreign policy was left for second-to-last and given only a few minutes of consideration , but the responses were noteworthy , and somewhat discouraging . Perry found himself awkwardly agreeing with Huntsman 's call to bring home the troops in Afghanistan , while failing to put forward his own substantive plan on the Afghan war . Many on the right will be disappointed in what they heard Monday night , a day after the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks . In the end , tea party favorites like Bachmann , Gingrich , Santorum and Herman Cain were the winners , though polls may not move much . Perry was on the defensive all night and , despite his reputation nationally , he came across as `` liberal '' on some issues , criticized from the right on the vaccination issue , immigration , and Afghanistan . But some in the center might have warmed to Perry and some of his non-tea party stances . It remains to be seen whether his standing with conservatives will weaken -- at this point I doubt that it will . And once again , Romney was able to escape unharmed from a not-so-friendly crowd by shifting his attacks toward Perry and tacking away from some of his more center-right positions . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William J. Bennett .
Michele Bachmann : HPV may change course of presidential race . He says Rick Perry adopted a moderate or even liberal stance on some issues . Other candidates attacked Perry on immigration , HPV vaccine , HPV . Rick Perry : Tea party favorites like Michele Bachmann had all night .