Today's GOP DesMoines Register debate was the candidates' final meeting before the January 3 caucus; the Democrats' final chance to spar before Iowa is tomorrow. The impact these debates could have on the race, according to one Democratic strategist, is huge.

"With just over 20 days left until the Iowa caucuses, the Des Moines Register debates could have a seismic impact on the race," said John Lapp, a Democratic strategist who ran Democrat Dick Gephardt's 2004 Iowa caucus campaign. "With so many undecideds still looking to make up their minds, a fatal flub or a shining performance could fundamentally change this race and significantly shape the outcome of the Iowa caucuses."

Well, the guy did run Gephardt's campaign so what does he know? I mean, that's an awful lot of significance to place on a debate that airs on CSPAN3 at 1pm local time on a weekday (it was originally scheduled for a Saturday.) But then again, I suppose it is more about media coverage of the debate than the debate itself. So what is the media saying about the Republican debate today?

Yawn. First Read sums it up.

This was not a debate, that we can agree on. It was a forum which for the PBS/NPR crowd who swears they don't like debate fireworks and gotchas and simply want candidates talking specifics, should love. Well, they got 60-second non-specific answers on issues that are not registering as the top issues among Republican Party voters. I'm guessing even those folks didn't like this debate.

So who won? Well, this was an opportunity for the field to slow Mike Huckabee and the format didn't allow for it, so on that score, I guess Huckabee can call himself a winner.

So, not only did the format not lend itself to any seismic shifts on that stage today but, by the looks of it, the candidates didn't really make any effort to shake things up either. From The AP:

The subdued Republican debate Wednesday belied the fierce, increasingly negative battle in Iowa and elsewhere for the party's presidential nomination.

The candidates largely held their fire in their final meeting before the state's Jan. 3 leadoff caucuses, mindful that negative campaigning can backfire, particularly in Iowa.

So much for seismic. But the thing is, Hillary Clinton does need the earth to shift under their collective feet tomorrow if she hopes to regain momentum. Throughout this campaign, debates have proven seismic for her to the extent that her lead was essentially earned and lost based on her performance during them and so tomorrow is a perfect opportunity for her to try to shift things yet again, to re-establish voters' confidence, which has been shaken over the last month or so. To accomplish this, she needs to shine and she needs Obama to stumble, and if he doesn't, then she needs to trip him up. This is risky, of course, not only because she could potentially alienate Iowa voters who tend to detest attacks, but also because her campaign has been so inept at the whole attacking thing recently. This is an especially strange development for a campaign that a. has exhibited such message discipline for so much of the year and b. has basically pitched Clinton as an effective political fighter.

As John Dickerson wrote in a recent piece for slate titled "Hillary Clinton was supposed to know how to rumble":

How well Clinton fights matters because Clinton and her campaign aides put her combat skills at the center of her campaign. They have repeatedly argued that only she can go up against the GOP attack machine in the general election, even making the point in a television ad. It was the theme of her speech to Iowa Democrats at the influential Jefferson-Jackson dinner last month, in which she promised to "turn up the heat" on the Republicans. Clinton and her aides continue the argument into her future presidency, saying that only she has the political fighting skills to implement health-care reform and restore fiscal restraint.

So will we see the fighter come out tomorrow or will she remain above the fray and simply try to win on the confidence and charm that served her so well for so much of the year? I imagine she'll play it by ear and go on the attack if it looks like Obama is holding his own. Obama on the other hand will likely act the part of the front-runner and avoid saying or doing anything controversial; the wild card is Edwards. On one hand, he's been playing Mr. nice guy recently, shifting the tone of his ads and his TV appearances from angry to almost giddy, which would lead one to believe he's going to remain that way tomorrow; he's hoping to be the Kerry to Clinton and Obama's Dean and Gephardt. But if he sees an opening, I could see him piling on Obama; he has a lot to gain from an Obama fall as traditionally Obama's supporters cite Edwards as their second choice and vice versa. But taking down Obama is going to be difficult as the upward momentum is clearly his.