Thompson's quiet, if not slow spoken, sage-like southern persona came through at points in the debate.  In the exchange over Iran, Thompson was reflected on the tensions within legislation like the War Powers Act - passed in the wake of the initiation of the Vietnam conflict  - and the need to balance competing executive and legislative interests and imperatives. Though in his answer to the first question about the state of the economy, Thompson painted a very optimistic picture, he was more dower when he noted that with less than one in eight American's approving of Congress' job, that legislators needed to "tell the truth" to the American people including the rising bankruptcies, need for rising spending and risks to national security and the economy. Despite some missteps, Thompson did come across with a few good lines.  For example, in poking a bit of fun of himself, Thompson asked the rhetorical question if his membership in "the Screen Actors Guild" credentialed him to speak about the importance of labor unions.

Fittingly, the debate focused on a number of contested economic issues - including health care, immigration, and free trade.  While there was broad agreement among the candidates about the need to have sensible regulation, lower taxes and lower spending, there was little in the way of specifics about how to do it.  Each candidate appeared to shine at points in the debate though no one candidates performance was outstanding.  Humor - self effacing and aimed at other candidates - featured prominently in the debate, if only because it was ham handed at times in its delivery.  Sam Brownback jokingly interrupted Tom Tancredo several times intoning the congressman "not to pick on his mother" when he remarked that Civil Service employees union representation might be a conflict of interest.  Thompson jokingly spoke up to "defend Goober and Goomer" in reference to Mike Huckabee's remarks about the problems of who was working to fix the nation's energy crisis.  Mitt Romney's clearly planned joke about Thompson's recurring role on the long running series Law and Order, was almost painful as he noted the "debate was a lot like Law and Order...with its large cast, going on forever...and Fred Thompson appears at the end."  Thompson's punctuating line - "I thought I was the best actor" on stage may well have stolen Romney's moment, however.  

Some moments of clarity did emerge in the debate - reinforcing some stark differences between the candidates.  Ron Paul, when asked about the war in Iraq and oil noted, "We were told, it was about oil and jobs when it started in 1990, and indeed this is just a continuation of that war" and "mercantile capitalism," noting the cost of 2.7 trillion dollars in capital flight out the nation.  A later exchange with Duncan Hunter and Paul on Iran and weapons of mass destruction turned up the heat when Paul emphatically noted that there was "no threat" from Iran and the risks of another unconstitutional war.  John McCain and Tancredo got into an exchange about Tancredo's pet issue of immigration when he noted that it was "work by Senator" that contributed to the illegal immigration problem.  Romney and Giuliani squared off pretty sharply in an early exchange about the line item veto and as Romney noted he used it 844 times as Governor of Massachusetts and Giuliani noting "the Supreme Court has ruled on it" and "wishing" it to be constitutional won't make it so.  This exchange - and others - over spending, taxation and the role of government between Romney and Giuliani are likely a background for the increasing tight polling numbers between the two candidates, especially in New Hampshire.  

Hillary Clinton and "the leading Democrat candidates" were evoked in the debate by several candidates - most notably Rudy Giuliani and Romney.  The former New York mayor joked in his final question that the danger of "Hillary Care" (presumably the NY Senator's health care reform proposals) that its danger would be that "Canadians will have no where to come for health care" - playing up the irony of Canada's single payer system which leads wealthier Canadians to seek treatment faster or with newer technologies in the U.S.  

While the topic of labor unions came up, not suprising in the backyard of America's auto industry, candidates were positive about their overall contributions to the American worker, creating the national middle class, and protecting rights. Many, including McCain, Tancredo, Thompson and Huckabee, were critical of the "excesses" of unions and plans by the Democrat controlled Congress to change union membership campaigns. The legacy of Ronald Reagan loomed large in the debate as several candidates evoked his name - and never the name of the name who's name was on the building they were debating in, Gerald R. Ford.  

In the end, CNBC hosted a debate which resembled many of the prior primary debates.  It was not particularly less organized from the moderators nor stood out because of statements by the by other debates.  The use of split screen and reaction shots by the network gave viewers, at times, interesting looks into the candidates and their rivals.  One thing that was memorable was the distracting financial tickers running along the top and bottom of the screen while the debate was televised.  It was again clear - as evidenced by the moderators' questioning - which candidates were the top tier of candidates with focused questions about their policies, past or recent statements with other candidates just asked to respond.  Thompson got the debate's final question from Bartiromo who asked "how did it [the debate] feel?" Characteristic of his wry humor, Thompson replied, ""It was getting a little boring without me."

CNBC will host a debate for the Democrats seeking the Oval Office on October 30 in Philadelphia.