Why are there so few high-profile candidates in the first GOP presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, which will take place in South Carolina on Thursday?
What if we held a presidential debate and no one showed up?
On Thursday night, the first presidential debate of the 2012 Republican presidential race is scheduled in South Carolina but none of the best known candidates will be there.
No Mitt Romney, no Sarah Palin, no Mike Huckabee. Even Newt Gingrich is taking a pass!
Who will be there? Mostly a collection of long shot and no shot candidates like former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, pizza magnate Herman Cain and, yes, Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
The lone top tier candidate who will be on stage Thursday night is former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.
Pawlenty is not nearly as well known as the Romneys and Huckabees of the race and is hoping that the fact that the debate is being run live on Fox News Channel will expose him to lots and lots of potential Republican primary voters.
The danger of course is that Pawlenty could be dragged down into the weeds of the pet policy debates of fringe candidates with nothing to lose.
In many ways, Thursday's debate is indicative of the broader race for the Republican nomination. Most of the big names are content to stay on the sidelines for now, leaving the stage, literally, to people who might draw headlines but won't seriously compete for the nomination.
What would it take for me to become a pizza magnate?
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