The stakes are high for this week's Republican presidential debate -- but not for who you think. 

When the Republican candidates for president gather on Tuesday in Milwaukee for the fourth nationally televised debate, 21st Century Fox's (FOXA) - Get Report Fox Business Network will be watched as closely as Donald Trump, Ben Carson or Marco Rubio.

It's a terrific opportunity to win viewers for Fox Business, the also-ran among business-focused cable-TV networks -- two of the first three Republican debates eclipsed 20 million viewers. But, given the flap around the last debate, it could be a trap. 

CNBC, FBN's main rival, was the object of much ridicule after the last debate; Republican party operatives and conservative observers unleashed a torrent of finger-wagging and browbeating of the network following its broadcast of the third GOP debate, on Oct. 28 in Boulder, Colo.

In the minds of many of the Republican candidates and the party's base of conservative voters, CNBC moderators Carl Quintanilla, Becky Quick and John Harwood went overboard in questioning Trump, Carson, Rubio, Jeb Bush et. al. The candidates even went so far as to band together to chastise the network, its moderators and the media in general -- and to find an alternative. With none having yet been found and the media fighting back, Republican candidates will assemble once again, this time in Milwaukee, to submit to questioning. 

So, even as Fox Business, a network historically supportive of conservative causes and the GOP, aims to show that it's different from CNBC, it runs the risk of appearing obsequious and too cozy with those being interviewed to elicit answers that can help inform the voting public.

"It's tricky," said Mark Feldstein, a professor of broadcast journalism at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. "One one hand, if they're too critical of the candidates, too pointed, they risk being attacked like CNBC. But if they're too gentle, they risk being attacked for pandering to the conservative base and not being independent."

It's an enticing predicament for the eight-year old Fox Business that runs a distant second to CNBC in both ratings and prominence. Fox Business News generates about one-sixth the number of households viewing its programming, according to data compiled by Nielsen.

For Fox Business, being viewed as the anti-CNBC is a chance to win viewer loyalty, especially among those who don't usually watch either network. Eager to capitalize on the negative publicity that followed the Boulder debate, Fox Business aired a punchy commercial last week charging that "CNBC never asked the real questions, never covered the real issues."

The attacks on the CNBC moderators, led by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, were themselves subject to debate. Priebus accused CNBC of practicicing "gotcha" journalism. In return, President Obama poked fun at the candidates charging that if they couldn't handle some sparing with CNBC's generally pro-business on-air personalities, they're likely to be shredded by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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The debate will be moderated by Neil Cavuto, the network's managing editor, Maria Bartiromo, who rose to television prominence through 20 years at CNBC, and Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker. That all three are conservative and generally friendly to corporate positions should put Republican wariness to rest.

For a recent model about how to moderate a debate that is both revealing and offers a network a chance to showcase it talent, Fox Business need look no farther than the first debate hosted by its colleagues at Fox News.

The Fox News debate featured an opening question in which the candidates were asked to raise their hand if they're willing to support the GOP nominee. The picture of everyone except Trump doing so was great theater, but also a fair question. Megyn Kelly's performance was also well received, and even produced a good-for-ratings tug-o-war with Trump that generated questions about his respect for working women.

"Fox did a superb job in the first debate," Feldstein said. "Pointed questions that showed how to get through the fog."

Like the Boulder debate, Tuesday's event is being billed as another focused on jobs, taxes and the general health of the economy in addition to some domestic and international policy issues. Immigration is likely to get an airing.

Fox is clearly seeking to appease the GOP. The network has agreed to give the candidates opening and closing statements, golden opportunities for each to address a large audience with a boiled-down one-minute version of their well-practiced stump speech. CNBC had refused such requests.

The question remains, though, just how to walk the line between journalism and the sensibilities of modern political decorum.

"The focus should be on trying to draw out substantive differences, keep them to time limits and perhaps confront them with independent, non-ideological assessments of their individual tax and economic plans," said Jim Warren, chief media writer at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, "It might be hard but try to limit the mere, unspecific political rhetoric about boosting the economy that each has memorized."

For Fox Business Network and Cavuto, Bartiromo and Baker, the stakes of the debate may be as high for as they are for Trump, Carson and Rubio.

The next Republican Presidential debate starts at 9 p.m. ET this Tuesday, 11/10. Join TheStreet.com for live coverage of the event, starting with the under-card debate at 7 p.m. Tune in for stories, videos, and more, and make sure to follow us at @TheStreet on Twitter for live commentary by TheStreet Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Kanige during the debate.

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