Live Blog: Clash of the Clowns IV

Good Evening Politics Junkies!

Are you ready for the Tuesday night fights? The undercard begins at 7PM Eastern and will include Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Bobby Jindal. The main event at 9PM will include the above eight candidates: John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, and Rand Paul.

The moderators, according to the LA Daily News:

The “undercard” debate will be moderated by Fox Business Network anchors Trish Regan and Sandra Smith and Wall Street Journal Washington Bureau Chief Gerald Seib.

The prime-time debate will be moderated by Fox Business Network anchors Maria Bartiromo and Neil Cavuto and Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Gerard Baker.

Where to watch:

The Nov. 10 GOP debates — both the prime-time and “undercard” contests — will be broadcast live from the Milwaukee Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the Fox Business Network. They will also be streamed live over the Internet at Foxnews.com and Foxbusiness.com.

No cable subscription is required to watch the live stream.

Fox Business Network says it is working with cable and satellite providers to give access to the channel to as may subscribers as possible for tonight’s debates.

The debates will be broadcast on the Fox News Radio network with a live audio stream over the Internet at radio.foxnews.com.

What the media has been saying in the lead up to tonight’s action:

NBC News: High Stakes, Calm Atmosphere Ahead of GOP Debate.

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — The fourth GOP primary debate will feature fewer candidates than the first three, but likely just as many — if not more — fireworks.

Fewer candidates means more time to speak — and more opportunity to screw up, as the moderators have telegraphed plans to drill candidates on policy specifics and hold them tightly to time constraints.

And with just over 80 days to go until the first primary contest, in Iowa, candidates will be jockeying for that last burst of momentum

heading into the winter campaign season where voters start to tune in, and more candidates will likely drop out.But at the Milwaukee Theater, where the debate is set to take place, the atmosphere was was largely the calm before the storm. On the chilly but bright day, few reporters were seen outside doing live reports. It was similarly quiet in the sleepy press file, with a few dozen staffers and reporters milling about but most elsewhere.

From NBC News’ Chuck Todd and friends: Bush Vs. Rubio Sets The Stage For Tonight’s Debate.

Another Bush-vs.-Rubio fight sets the stage for tonight’s GOP debate: Tonight’s fourth Republican presidential debate picks up where the last one left off — with Jeb Bush in desperate need of a strong showing, and with his team (this time his Super PAC) picking a fight with Marco Rubio. The Right to Rise Super PAC “has filmed a provocative video casting his rival Marco Rubio as ultimately unelectable because of his hard-line stand against abortion,” the New York Times reported last night. “That group, which has raised more than $100 million, has asked voters in New Hampshire how they feel about Mr. Rubio’s skipping important votes in the Senate. And the group’s chief strategist has boasted of his willingness to spend as much as $20 million to damage Mr. Rubio’s reputation and halt his sudden ascent in the polls, according to three people told of the claim.” In response, the Rubio campaign has released a brand-new online ad in response to the New York Times article, and it’s full of instances where Bush has praised Rubio. “I’m a huge Marco fan,” Bush says at the ad’s end.

Is the Bush Super PAC telegraphing its attack on Rubio? Or is it internal sabotage? Why would the Right to Rise folks leak this story out, especially before tonight’s debate? It was our understanding that — after the last debate — Jeb World acknowledged that they couldn’t take Rubio on again until Bush had improved his poll position. Given that this New York Times story feels more damaging to Jeb than to Rubio, we wonder if there’s some internal sabotage going on. Did someone with knowledge of Right to Rise’s abortion video on Rubio give the story to the Times? Or did it come from pro-Rubio folks who knew about the video? Regardless of the source, that Times article only puts more pressure on Bush tonight.

More speculation and analysis of other possible candidate clashes at the link. A few more stories to check out:

John Feehrey at the Wall Street Journal: 5 Questions for the GOP Debate on the Job of Being President.

Jonathan Martin a the New York Times: What to look for in the Republican debate.

Amber Phillips at the Washington Post: The top 9 issues ahead of Tuesday’s GOP presidential debate.

Please add any good stories you’ve read in the comment thread and document the atrocities as you watch.