CNN believes “The main event during Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate in Michigan is Fred Thompson's debate debut.”

John Gibson on the Fox News Channel believes the anti-Republican bias of debate co-moderator Chris Matthew is the story, “How in the world can NBC put on a fair debate with a moderator like Matthews?”

When the debate starts, smart Republican voters will not care about the endless candidate trivia, or campaign stump theatrics. In order to make a realistic assessment of candidate’s beliefs and values, Republican voters will look for factual information. The sideshows of Thompson’s first debate and Matthew’s bias are inconsequential. The often snide and elitist Chris Matthews will be taken for what he is. Thankfully, we won’t see Wolf Blitzer asking candidates ludicrous questions to be answered a show of hands.

The pertinent subjects for the debate are 1. the war on terror, 2. the economy and how we compete with Asian and European nations, 3. preserving our culture and values, 4. excessive taxes and spending in Washington. The voters will look for the candidate with the experience and ethics covering each of these subjects.

Who will win this and future Republican debates? A forward looking, positive candidate who speaks clearly, in complete sentences, and who is impressive in explaining how he will approach these problems will carry the field. After all, the Republicans are really selecting a candidate that presents a clear choice and credibly to oppose Hillary Clinton on these key issues next year.