Thompson to Appear in First Debate

Tuesday night will be important for the Fred Thompson campaign as he takes the stage with the other GOP candidates for the first time. We'll see how the rehearsals have been going:

Over the past two weeks, Thompson has held seven to nine debate sessions at his McLean, Va., campaign headquarters outside Washington, aides say. In each session, Thompson would answer timed questions on a variety of subjects. Aides then would stop and review answers with him.

Among those helping: former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, who has played Rudy Giuliani.

"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."

During the two-hour Michigan debate, Thompson will be positioned between top GOP rivals Giuliani and Mitt Romney. The debate is sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and MSNBC and will focus on economic issues.

At least they didn't stick him out with Ron Paul and Sam Brownback at the kid's table. Fred needs to come across a presidential and well-informed or his campaign could come to a quick end. He hasn't had the previous debate experience that the others have, but his acting experience should help him with any performance jitters.

It should be interesting.