Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The sixth Republican presidential debate was pass-fail for former Senator Fred Thompson. To succeed, all he needed to do was stay alert and not nod off in the middle of an answer.

That doesn't mean the audience didn't doze off every so often. There was a build-up to this one, largely because it was a chance to see Thompson in action, and a letdown when it didn't deliver a totally new and improved product. Up to now, Thompson's hallmark has been to coast on folksy platitudes. He'd become the world-weary district attorney he played on TV.

It wasn't working. The reviews were bad, not just from the elites in the national press he tries to avoid such as conservative columnist George Will, who called Thompson's plunge into the race ``more belly flop than swan dive.'' The local press was underwhelmed as well, wondering how Thompson could come to Florida and not have an opinion on drilling in the Everglades or on Terri Schiavo.

As the debate progressed, the problem for Thompson wasn't that he was unprepared, but that he wasn't in the scrum. A funny thing happened on his way to his first debate. The race had already gelled around former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Thompson was a greater presence at the last debate when he wasn't there. While he waited in the wings, life moved on. Republicans' desire to be rescued had cooled about the same time the fantasy of a knight in shining armor coming along was punctured by reality.

Looking for a Fight

As Thompson stood between Romney and Giuliani, they looked like incumbents and he the challenger, ignoring him the way they ignore the other guys on stage.

Giuliani is coiled and hunched forward, looking for a fight with Romney. He does everything but run in place. Romney in his too-perfect way is composed and in charge, calm.

They go after Senator Hillary Clinton as if each is already the nominee. On stage, they only have eyes for each other. Rudy: You raised taxes and spending in Massachusetts while they went down in New York. Romney: That's a nice line, but it's baloney. Giuliani: I led, he lagged.

Still, the newbie exceeded expectations. Candidates shouldn't be judged on who can answer a pop quiz, but reporters can't resist slipping one in, especially to a candidate who seems to get small things wrong. When Thompson got the question about who is the prime minister of Canada, he nailed it -- Harper -- although didn't get a two-point conversion for coming up with the first name, Stephen. His team had to be hitting high-fives.

Zoning Out

As the debate wore on, Thompson got more relaxed, to the point where in cutaway shots, he looked zoned out, as if wondering whether he had left the windows down in his car.

Some voters welcome a candidate who operates at a bit of a remove from the soul-sapping tedium of a modern campaign, but it can lead to an excess of cliches. And they piled up for Thompson faster than frontrunner Clinton in her last debate: ``choices are difficult,'' ``we have to get our arms around the problem'' and ``grow the economy.''

He may have slipped a real proposal in on privatizing Social Security, but it was jammed inside a warning about eating our children's and grandchildren's ``seed corn.''

More Huckabee Than Huckabee

Just as he was primed for naming world leaders, he should have been told to avoid cornpone at all costs. Thompson doesn't need to be any folksier. But he couldn't resist out-Heehawing former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee by volunteering to explain his reference to Gomer and Goober.

Not that the other candidates were pointed and pertinent. There's nothing that can't be solved by sufficient ``optimism,'' as if a lack of good cheer is keeping us from whipping China, getting out of Iraq, reducing the trade deficit, and saving Social Security. Giuliani said all we had to do to stay competitive in the world is to lift up our heads.

On substance, almost everyone was sanguine about the prospect of Dubai buying into Nasdaq. Outrage is so transient. The thought of Arabs owning an American entity has gone the way of fury over a cabinet nominee not paying taxes on a nanny.

These debates are more like the Miss America pageant before the field is whittled down. It's not about specifics but atmospherics. How do you look, how do you handle yourself, how quick are you on your feet, how do the other contestants treat you?

Inner Circle

Those in the top tier have shown they have enough to get to the final round, and Thompson is trying to get in that circle. He finished well, showing the humor his colleagues know he has but hasn't been on display. When asked if he'd waited too long to show up, he said no. ``Seems about right to me. I enjoyed watching these guys, but I got to admit it was getting a little boring without me.''

Before yesterday, it was a little boring with him. At events, he was getting more applause when he walked into a room than when he left it. He had to ask a crowd for applause when he finished his stump speech recently. Now what he needs is something else. He should hope that one of his opponents takes him seriously enough in the next debate to say he's full of baloney.

To contact the writer of this column: Margaret Carlson in Washington at mcarlson3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 10, 2007 00:06 EDT