Fred's Debate Debut

His spinners have set the bar so low for Fred Thompson in tomorrow's GOP debate that his performance expectations are below a limbo bar on the final pass. Just showing up is enough.... appearances are more important than substance the whirly-giggers imply....

Really? Do voters really want another dimwitted Cheney pawn leading us down the road to perdition?.... doing Cheney's bidding as in Thompson's role as legal fund cheerleader for Cheney's convicted perjurer chief-of-staff in the "free Scooter" campaign.

It seems Republicans are looking to Thompson as the great caped hope of the GOP and that is why in the Register's recent survey of likely Iowa GOP caucus goers he finished second to the smooth Mitt Romney who has been covering the state like a warm bath.

But, the debate tomorrow night actually sets the bar very high for those looking to Thompson as the savior of the Republican party, a Ronald Reagan on steroids. And, if his performance at his fundraisers is any barometer of the heat Thompson will generate in the debate, his "Law and Order" fans, and those who have only read his press releases, are in for a loooooong night.

So..... wha' happened to allow Thompson to oust Rudy Giuliani and John McCain from the second place tie they held in Iowa last May? McCain is probably the easiest to figure out, his advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform.... amnesty.... hurt him among conservative GOP Iowa voters.

Giuliani's position on abortion makes him unappetizing to these same voters, but the fact that he hasn't campaigned much in Iowa further cools the reception of the used-to-being-wooed caucus goers. Maybe the Judi-pecked Rudy stayed away because he thought cellphone reception wouldn't be up to snuff in rural Iowa...... he might miss a "Yes dear" speech interrupter.

It would appear that the support for Thompson is more a message of "none of the above," and Iowa GOP voters are hoping he will emerge as their go-to guy

If Thompson makes a poor showing in the debate tomorrow this wide but undoubtedly shallow support may leak to Romney or Mike Huckabee who finished second in the Iowa Straw poll in Ames this August.

Forget the spin.... tomorrow's debate performance could make or break Thompson's run for the presidential sun.