The sixth GOP Presidential debate will be held today in Dearborn, Michigan, and broadcast live on CNBC at 4:00 p.m. EDT. By far the biggest question arising before the event is, "How will Fred Thompson do in his first debate?" First, set the stage with Liz Sidoti of the Associated Press:

A late entry into the race, Thompson has sometimes struggled to answer questions on the campaign trail in his initial weeks as a full-fledged candidate.

He's no stranger to the small screen. He spent years acting on NBC's "Law & Order." But the last time he engaged in a political debate was 1996 during his successful Senate re-election campaign.

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"We think that we'll hold our own, but obviously every other candidate on the stage has been going to these debates all year long. They've already gone through their preseason. This is our first scrimmage," said Todd Harris, a Thompson spokesman. "The most important thing for us is for Fred's message and answers to connect with Republican voters, and that's been our focus."

The whole article is at the link above, but the point is clear: Thompson has at times seemed less polished on the stump, and his staff seeks to play down expectations before his first debate. That's standard political playbook, of course: whether you're worried about your boss' performance or expect him to excel, you want the expectations as low as possible so they are easy to exceed.

But the expectations for Thompson are already low, says Roger Simon of The Politico:

Though he is second in the national polls, the reviews of his campaigning thus far have been savage.

He has been portrayed as a goober, a hick and a doofus. No, I take that back. He has been portrayed as a lazy goober, hick and doofus.

He has been portrayed as a guy who does not really want to run for president but is being pushed into it by his wife. (Which, even if true, would not be the first time in campaign history.)

He is depicted as the kind of man who would rather be sitting in a double-wide, sipping on a Yoo-hoo, eating a Moon Pie and watching "Jackass: Number Two" on DVD rather than occupying the Oval Office.

Never has there been an opportunity for any candidate to surprise his critics more.

Read the whole column at the link above. But Brad Marston at Azamatterofact disagrees:

With all due respect, this is not the preseason and it is not a scrimmage. If you want to stay with sports metaphors, Thompson was a contract holdout and missed the entire training camp and pre-season. But this is the pros and it is time to put up or shut up or perhaps more appropriately, win or go home.

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Based on my reading of background questions from various polls, I get the sense that, to use an old political phrase, his support is a mile wide but only an inch deep. Without a great debate performance, I believe a lot of that pond is going to dry up.

"All his missteps and his laid-back style of campaigning is taking a toll on the early enthusiasm with which his candidacy was received."

According to Dick Morris writing for The Hill that Fred is Fading, Thompson's numbers among likely Republican voters are falling. Not precipitously but falling none the less and that is not a good sign. It is especially not a good sign when it coincides with the calendar which indicated that more and more voters are actually focusing on the race.

Read his whole post at the link above.

If nothing else, the open question of Thompson's performance and what it means gives this debate something lacking in other recent debates in both parties: a reason to watch it. (There's a full replay at 9 on MSNBC if you miss the live show).