The first Republican debate of 2012

You should read Dave Weigel's preview of tonight's debate in South Carolina. Tim Pawlenty finds himself in an odd position, a serious candidate on a stage with four candidates who have zero chance of winning the Republican primary. Every other candidate but Pawlenty is there to get an applause line, throw red meat to the base and say things that no serious candidate would say and all of that meat will be fresh for Republican activists who are watching these candidates debate for the first time. So, Tim Pawlenty can't win tonight, he can't throw more red meat than the other candidates and being the serious candidate tonight means being the most boring candidate. The only news from tonight is how much Pawlenty doesn't excite the base and whether he stumbles and says something he shouldn't say.

And at the end of the day, the only reason the Democratic Party is taping the debate is to catch Tim Pawlenty tripping in case he's the presidential or vice-presidential nominee.

Having said that the biggest loser tonight is Fox News. The most powerful force in Republican politics and they can only get one semi-serious candidate to show up to their debate.

I'll be attempting to update the blog during tonight's debate but you can follow our real time coverage on twitter by follow Ablogelections, Kombiz, MattOrtega and mbrownerhamlin.