The third round of Republican Presidential debates is about to begin. CNN is taking its turn this go-around doing the hosting duties. The same ten candidates who were in the last Battle Royale will be grappling again.

Topping the card again is Rudy "The Hitman" Giuliani, John the McCainiac and "Nature Boy" Mitt Romney. Duncan "The Deporter" Hunter, "The Arkansas Toothpick" Mike Huckabee, Sam "Superfly" Brownback, Tommy "Two-Tone" Thompson, "Tijuana" Tom Tancredo and Jim Gilmore - who I can't even think of a nickname for - fill out the rest of the bill. Like any good wrestling match you'll also have that annoying guy who keeps on shouting stuff which enrages the audience while insulting their sensibilities. Enter Ron "Mouth of the South" Paul.

Like any good WWF event there's a chance that this event will be disrupted by outside forces with the threat of Fred Thompson, Newt Gingrich and others entering the ring with metal chairs to clear out many of the pretenders.

The tagline should be "They cut your taxes so you could buy the whole seat! But you'll only need the edge..."

Update:

I'll be live-blogging the debate. Like any Ward project which requires technical expertise, I hope it won't involve profanity-laced tirades, an engine hoist malfunction and JB Weld...

3:55 P.M

The downside of having the debate on CNN is that Brit Hume will not be moderating this session. Hume is one of the few persons on Fox, and dare I say cable news in general, who actually deserves the moniker of "professional journalist".

On a positive note, the telecast shouldn't come off like an overly-produced football game with jet-fighter sound-effects, graphic splashes, a news crawl and Transformers fighting in the background. OK, Fox producers might have omitted that last bit in their debate coverage but I'm sure they were sorely tempted.

We'll see how the questions fare with Wolf Blitzer behind the microphone.

4:01 P.M.
The "Big Three" candidates Romney, Giuliani and McCain have got to be sweating bullets with Thompson's expected (and dare I say hoped for) arrival in the race. Add some very unpopular positions on immigration (McCain), abortion (Giuliani) and gun control (Romney) and you have a situation where one of these three can fall off the radar screen really fast.

Conversely second-tier candidates like Mike Huckabee or Duncan Hunter should have nothing to lose here.

Intros:
Tommy Thompson has given the best line of his campaign. "I'm Thompson, the governor not the actor".

Iraq? Was it a mistake?

Romney felt the question was poorly worded.
Giuliani gave a definitive no and Iraq is a vital battlefield on the War on Terror.
McCain has been the biggest supporter of the War in Iraq. The question about whether he read some Iraq memo posed to McCain by Wolf was poor.
Brownback: Has been a proponent of the three-state approach in Iraq.
Hunter: You gotta like the fact that he has detailed knowledge of the exact Order of Battle of the Iraqi Army and has spoken with knowledge about shifting responsibility from U.S. ground forces to the Iraqis. (Which was the plan all along, right?)
Ron Paul: Got some staged applause with his Pat Buchanan-esque "Git out of Iraq" answer.

Iran:
Hunter: Spoke about interdicting supplies and military material coming into Iraq from Iran which is destabilizing the region.
(Wolf is trying to bait the candidates with a question about tactical nukes. Quite obviously, anyone with any knowledge about military hardware knows that we have many conventional munitions which can do the job just as well. Wolf is either completely ignorant or is trying to marginalize the candidates for being nuke happy.)
Giuliani: No option is off the table. Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terror and can provide extremists with nuclear material. "This war is not a bumpersticker. This war is a real war."

Immigration:

Tancredo: (Is quite eager - surprise surprise) Says we're not just talking about jobs losing, kids in schools or impact on hospitals and welfare system. Warns of Balkanization of the nation and a bi-lingual country. (Biggest applause of the evening).
Giuliani: Calls the immigration bill a typical Washington mess with too many compromises. Calls for "tamper-proof" ID card and data-base.
Romney: (A question on flip-flopping). Criticizes "Z" visa portion of the bill. Says it's not fair to allow illegal immigrants to stay here. Enforce the law as it exists.
McCain: (Seems tired and unfocused - again) He didn't answer the question on immigration defending his position as co-sponsor of the bill. "If someone else has a better idea, I'd love to hear it". (Quite a stir in the audience at THAT comment)
Hunter: A disastrous bill. Points out some of the fallacies of the notion that "illegals are just doing the jobs no one else wants". Criticizes "Bush-McCain-Kennedy" bill for slowing down construction of a border fence.
Brownback: Supports immigration bill "if" certain provisions are added.
Thompson: Secure the border and then move on.
Paul: (Gotta love the shaky camera angle CNN cut to) Apparently he doesn't support a border fence with Canada.

Humor

About the funniest moment in political history came over a question about a Catholic bishop having criticized Giuliani about his position on abortion. There has been a lightning storm causing technical problems during the debate resulting in an audible "buzz" each time a strike happens. As Giuliani was giving his answer about his position on abortion, the tempo of lightning increased quite dramatically. The candidates flanking the former New York mayor theatrically stepped away from him while he gave his response.

Climate change
CNN asked a loaded question about climate change.
Giuliani: Conceded to the theory that man contributes to Global Warming.
Romney: Reinvest in refineries. Have to pursue as a strategic imperative energy independence. This includes ANWR.
McCain: Brings up nuclear power and alternative energy sources.
Paul: True to his Libertarian roots, opposes subsidies to oil companies. Criticized foreign policy adventures which defend America's oil supply.

Don't ask, don't tell. Gays in the military.

There goes Ron Paul's support from Democrats. He didn't come out full-bore for allowing gays in the military.
Huckabee: The issue is already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (This answer obviously threw Wolf Blitzer for a loop since he no doubt is ignorant of what the UCMJ is).
The other candidates pointed out that there are bigger fish to fry than placating the desires of a special interest group and when asked, none of them supported a change in policy.

Free Scooter!!!

(This is a nonsensical question since the question of pardoning Scooter Libby will be no doubt decided before any future president is sworn in. The CNN producers should stop reading DailyKos)

Hunter: Will pardon the two border patrol agents accused of shooting a drug runner first.
Giuliani: The punishment for "Scooter" Libby was excessive.
Romney: Prosecutor overstepped his authority.
Thompson: Bill Clinton committed perjury and lost his law license. Libby committed perjury and gets 30 months.

Audience questions from "Republican" and "Independent" voters likely to vote.

The candidates were questioned by (I assume) a New Hampshire woman who lost a brother in Iraq. Is the war worth the sacrifice?

Hunter: Having a friendly Iraq that is not a state sponsor of terrorism is in the best interests of America just like creating a stable Japan after World War II.
Brownback: Proposed his three-state solution again with a decentralized government.
McCain: Said the war was initially mismanaged. He feels that the current strategy with the "Surge" needs to be given a chance to succeed. If we fail, the lives of the U.S. soldiers which were lost will be in vain and Iraq will be a center for terror.
Paul: Gave some garbled response involving Neo-cons and Woodrow Wilson.
Giuliani: Brings up specter of Islamic terrorism hitting America not just in 2001 but as early as 1993. Asked the media when positive news comes out about our progress will they cover it as well?

5:42 P.M.

(For some reason the questions from the audience portion of the debate has turned into the empty platitude segment. It's gotten so bad, I even checked out the Stranger's Slog coverage which was even worse).

Apparently not only does Ron Paul dislike the War in Iraq but he won't take any military action against Iran either.

McCain is shooting himself in the foot even more. Says go down to the Vietnam War Memorial and you'll see Hispanic names. I guess he's neglecting to point out that these were U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans and, on the whole, not illegals. He also gets the trifecta for giving the same old line about vetoing pork barrel spending and making the bill's authors infamous across the land. Waiting for the "drunken sailor and Congressional spending" hat-trick...

Health Care

(Are these Republicans in the New Hampshire audience actually Republicans? What's with all the questions about nationalized health care?)

Errata

Ouch. Hunter is slapping around Romney for his support of Bill Clinton's gun control bills. Says we need to move away from the Kennedy wing of the Republican party. The California Republican brought up the question about moderates vs. conservatives and who can win.

More Errata

Why are they interviewing a bunch of people who hate Republicans after the debate? Arianna Huffington? Give over, CNN! They're wasting time interviewing candidates (Romney) about Attorney General Gonzalez which is going to be a dead issue in November 2008. Amazingly, some CNN talking heads say that McCain won the debate. Personal bias much? If this is the case, it's a pity that the GOP candidate for president isn't selected with an open primary.

Conclusion:

I'm sure Eric Earling will come out with his own take later on tonight.

The most important thing with tonight's show is the fact that the appearance of former Tennessee senator and actor Fred Thompson will dramatically shake-up the status quo. How Thompson-the-actor-not-the-governor will work on the campaign trail and debate podium has yet to be seen. The one danger is that expectations are so high and any misstep could damage the pedestal of support he has created.

As for tonight, McCain was really in a no-win situation and he's the one who had the target on his back all evening. Romney didn't really say anything of substance that I can remember. But he sure looked pretty while saying it. Giuliani came across quite well and he's the candidate most likely to shrug off the effects of a Fred Thompson run. The former Mayor has staked out his position on moderate/liberal political ground and this shouldn't be eroded with the appearance of a new "conservative" candidate.

Duncan Hunter once again has shown that he deserves to be included in these debates. He does a far better job at articulating conservative principles while energizing that portion of the base. Tom Tancredo backers need to switch horses to form a solid and consolidated national security/immigration bloc behind him.

Mike Huckabee gave an excellent account of how faith and science are not separate issues. Being a practicing Christian is almost akin to being a Wobbly a century ago with the amount of discrimination levied against church-goers in today's political climate. It's nice to see someone clearly articulate how faith shapes his principles while not coming off sounding like a "Jerry Falwell".

Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback, Tommy Thompson and Jim Gilmore are eventually going to have to back some other candidate. With it being June 2007, there's no harm in letting them be part of a national civics lesson. For now. It will be interesting to see when the artificial support for Ron Paul evaporates after it's realized that Paul's opposition to the War in Iraq isn't because of liberal/progressive principals but because he's way over in the right-wing rushes of the Pat Buchanan GOP wing.