Today on the Trail: Dems step up to the plate

TotT is a daily rundown of campaign events, compiled by Katie Rooney.

Pretty much all of the Democratic presidential candidates are attending tonight's debate in South Carolina - the first major debate of the 2008 campaign season. The debate will be broadcast by MSNBC live from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Here are the candidates who've said they are showing up: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE). We'll have to watch and see who takes home the gold.

Here's where some of the other presidential candidates will be today:

* Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) celebrates the official launch of his 2008 presidential campaign ALL week: today he'll also be in South Carolina hosting a campaign rally in Greenville at 9 a.m., another in Columbia at 1 p.m. and a third in Charleston at 5 p.m.
* Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) hosts a public breakfast in Elkader, Iowa from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.
* Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) stops in New York City tonight as the keynote speaker at the Yeshiva University Sy Syms School of Business gala at 7:15 p.m.

-Katie Rooney