Presidential hopeful Ron Paul unveiled his economic plan yesterday, saying that he would balance the federal budget in his first year in office if elected.

Paul said that he'd accomplish this task by cutting one trillion dollars in government spending while eliminating five cabinet-level departments of government, including HUD and the the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Interior and Education. Under his "Plan to Restore America," Paul also would move to eliminate all foreign aid and war spending.

Paul currently stands in fourth place behind Romney, Cain and Perry for the candidate most likely to win the GOP nomination. He joins Carol Costello on American Morning today to discuss his new economic plan and to weigh in on what his chances are in this race ahead of tonight's CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate.

According to new CNN/ORC polling, Herman Cain and Mitt Romney are vying for the top spot among the 2012 GOP presidential candidates. The two candidates will join the other GOP presidential hopefuls tonight to go head to head at the Republican debate in Las Vegas, co-hosted by CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference.

Although these types of debates have been happening frequently across the country, CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein says that they are having an impact on voters. In fact, Brownstein calls the current campaign season a "nation audition" for the GOP candidates.

Today on American Morning, Brownstein joins Carol Costello in Las Vegas to weigh in on the latest polling numbers and to discuss what he is looking forward to at tonight's debate.