How do you prepare for this GOP debate?

Thursday night there will be ten debaters with Donald Trump at center stage, following the presidential debate tradition of having the front runner in the center spot, the next two on either side, and on down.   So Jeb Bush and Scott Walker will be on either side of him.  Then reasonably assured of a spot will be Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz.

Then it gets dicey for those "on the bubble," as they say.  The maybe group that could round out the 10 would be Rick Perry, Chris Christie, and John Kasich.   The long shots would be Lindsey Graham, Rick Santorum, and Bobby Jindal;  the also-rans:  George Pataki, Carly Fiorino, and the just-joined-in former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.

That's the question of Who? and it won't be settled until Tuesday, two days before the debate, when Fox announces which polls it considered the "last five national polls" that pick the winners.

But then there's the question of:  How do you prepare for a two hour "debate" split ten ways?   And, even moreso, with Donald Trump in the leading role?   Will he throw insult bombs?    Should the others use valuable time responding to him -- or ignore him?

His campaign says he's going to "be very nice and respectful."   But is he capable of sustaining that?   Increasingly, Trump's poll numbers indicate that he is striking a responsive chord in the electorate.   What we thought at first was the novelty of it seems now more that you disparage him at your peril -- not because of his counterattack -- but because he is obviously speaking for a lot of people when he talks about immigrants and criticizes our government.

Nevertheless, "how to handle Donald Trump" in a debate is producing some entertaining suggestions.   Reportedly someone has advised Jeb Bush not to engage with him, because: "Never wrestle with a pig.   You'll get dirty and, besides, the pig will love it."

And a political operative sent John Kasich a message saying that preparing for this debate is like a NASCAR driver mentally preparing for a race when you know that one of the drivers will be drunk.

The real winner will be Fox News, because the anticipation for what might happen will drive the ratings off the charts -- at least for a first debate 15 months before the election.  And Roger Ailes, head of Fox News, gets to play king-maker once again.

Ralph