Did Fred Thompson Fizzle Or Flourish In His First Presidential Debate?

Fred Thompson took the stage in Michigan this afternoon in his first presidential debate.  Thompson entered the race just over a month ago, announcing his candidacy on late night tv -- in an effort to upstage his opponents sparring that evening in another debate.

Some political observers called this the most important performance of Thompson's life.  Over the past three weeks, support for Thompson has slipped in the polls, while rivals Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney noticed steady increases.

The moderators started the debate, " Senator Thompson this is your first debate, and we kick it off with you."  Answering his first question about the economy, the former trial attorney seemed more shaky, than smooth.  Thompson replied, "the stock market seems to be doing well, uh, I see no reason to believe we're headed for, uh, economic downturn."

Thompson's opponents waited anxiously for this day, hoping to tarnish some of his hollywood sparkle by showing their knowledge of the issues.  Mike Huckabee said "I want to make sure people understand for many people on this stage the economy is doing terrifically well, but for a lot of Americans its not doing so well."  While Congressman Duncan Hunter attacked, "Senator Thompson the other senators, you all voted for most favored nation status for communist china, that set the ground work for 1.8 million high paying manufacturing jobs moving off-shore."

Thompson ad-libbed well, joking about a tiff between Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney over who cut taxes more, in areas known for high taxes.  But under direct questioning , he offered few ideas for fixing domestic issues, like unemployment, taxes, and trade with foreign countries.  "So we need to do everything we can to make sure we're doing all that we can to protect the infrastructure we've got and scrutinize these deals number one first and foremost from a national security standpoint," Thompson replied to a question about allowing a foreign company to invest in NASDAQ.

Thompson's advisors had one goal for their candidate in this debate, show voters he wants the job his supporters drafted him into appling for.

9 Presidential hopefuls took part in this debate, making it tough for any one candidate to stand out.

If you missed the debate this afternoon, you have another chance to catch it tonight, when it will be re-broadcast on MSNBC at 9:00 PM.