Tonight, the Republicans.

The second night of the U.S. Senate debates sponsored by The Hartford Courant and Fox CT begins at 7 p.m.  Brent Hardin hosts.

The hoo-ha at UHa offers Peter Schiff the best opportunity to make an impression on Republicans.  His experience as a commentator ought to allow him to dominate the proceedings.  He knows how to deliver bite-size opinions on the economy and foreign policy.  Schiff could inflict the most damage on former United Stated Representative Rob Simmons by highlighting the differences between Schiff’s outsider rhetoric and Simmons’s insider record.

WWE mogul Linda McMahon needs to show some depth and easy facility in the range of topics the debate will cover.  This may be the night when curious but skeptical Republicans see if she’s closely handled or merely surrounded by a lot of staffers.

The format does not allow for much give-and-take between the candidates.  That means Simmons may have some trouble engaging McMahon with the sort of attacks that have dominated his campaign against her.  He’ll do best if he keeps his answers crisp.  It might be a good night to acknowledge that he cast some votes as a member of Congress for 6 years that he now regrets.

Republicans across the country do a lot of mewling about the state of the nation.  The candidate who injects some optimism into his or her analysis of the way ahead will stand the best chance of winning supporters tonight for the May, August and November contests.