WASHINGTON – Tonight’s the big night, which is made larger because of the setting.

Part of Mr. Perry’s challenge during the debate is to send a message to the Republican Party’s mainstream establishment that he can be a standard-bearer for the entire party, not just a conservative wing that is appealing in the Deep South. – Republican Debate: Five Things to Watch

So, Gov. Rick Perry, come on down. According to Molly Ball of Politico, debating isn’t something he relishes; instead, he ducks avoids them: “he skipped debates entirely against his general election opponent in 2010.”

But so far nobody seems to care. Chris Cilizza has even pronounced “We are in the Rick Perry era” (via Matt Lewis on Twitter).

After winning the Ames straw poll, Michele Bachmann’s candidacy is on life support. Even her departing campaign manager said so, but it’s unlikely she’ll go out quietly, which could make tonight’s Reagan library debate very interesting. As for Mitt Romney, it will be interesting to see just how he handles Gov. Perry, because he’s definitely changed the game. One thing slick Mitt can’t afford to do is allow his adversaries to see him sweat.

Today begins an important time for Gov. Perry, whose poll numbers have eclipsed Mitt Romney with conservatives, and made Rep. Bachmann an afterthought.

So it’s interesting that a man who’s supposed to be Mr. Tea Party is showing his establishment cronyism, with Perry’s Super PAC “Make Us Great Again” causing quite a bit of chatter. See the New York Times:

A new Super PAC with close ties to Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is laying plans to spend as much as $55 million to help him win the Republican presidential nomination, a sign that outside groups are likely to play a pivotal role in the party’s selection of its candidate.

[…] A new Super PAC with close ties to Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is laying plans to spend as much as $55 million to help him win the Republican presidential nomination, a sign that outside groups are likely to play a pivotal role in the party’s selection of its candidate.

[…] Virtually all of the top Republican candidates for president are backed by Super PACs organized by donors and former aides, as is President Obama, underscoring the central role the groups are likely to play in the battle for votes and campaign dollars.

According to several reports, Perry’s Super PAC plans to spend multimillions in Iowa to secure his position in that state.

Tonight’s jousting will be interesting and Gov. Perry will have to make sure he doesn’t pull a TPaw on Mitt Romney. With little experience on the field of debate battle there’s all kinds of things that could go wrong.

Perry may be the longest-serving governor in Texas history, but voters there are largely unaccustomed to seeing him go head-to-head on stage with his rivals. He’s done it just four times in the decade that he’s served as governor — and he skipped debates entirely against his general election opponent in 2010. – by Molly Ball

Taylor Marsh is a Washington based political analyst, writer and commentator on national politics, foreign policy, and women in power. A veteran national politics writer, Taylor’s been writing on the web since 1996. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her blog.