Major Shift in Tonight's Republican Debate

Manchester, NH (TLS). At 7 PM tonight CNN will broadcast the third major Republican presidential debate. Going into tonight's debate there is already a major shift among the candidates in terms of the top tier.

Polls show that John McCain continues his slide downward among potential Republican voters. The latest polls indicate that McCain now comes in 4th.

That leads to the question as to who has moved into the top three.

Well, it depends on who you ask.

Fred Thompson looms over this debate now that he has announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee. Although Thompson insists that he still has not made up his mind, he has already given NBC notice that he will not finish out his contract as the DA in the network's long-running series 'Law and Order.'

This can only mean that Thompson has every intention to run.

With Thompson in the picture, he is already polling at 3rd among the candidates--without even campaigning or appearing in a debate.

Others, however, restrict their polling data to those who have announced. Without Thompson in the picture Mike Huckabee moves up into 3rd place.

Thus, going into tonight's debate, here are the Republican candidates' polling standings thus far:

Rudy Giuliani
Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee
John McCain
Ron Paul
Sam Brownback
Duncan Hunter
Jim Gilmore
Tom Tancredo
Tommy Thompson

Mike Huckabee has surprised everyone with his very strong showing in the first two debates. He is articulate, humorous, likable, and makes for an attractive candidate. Look for him to continue his upward spiral this evening.

It will be interesting to see if Ron Paul continues to ignite fireworks this evening. The candidate certainly provides an alternative for Republicans who are tired of the War and who take seriously the U.S. Constitution. We will see if he can recover from his unfortunate insinuation during the last debate that America is to blame for the terrorist attack against us.

As always, The Liberty Sphere will provide our exclusive Liberty Rating on the candidates following the debate. Check back tonight for further details....