The race to become the Republican nominee in the 2012 presidential election features its first debate on Thursday.

Hosted in Greenville, South Carolina by Fox News, only five candidates met the strict polling and fundraising thresholds to participate. Businessman Herman Cain, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum are scheduled to debate.

Among those that won't be attending are Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and real estate developer Donald Trump.

Few of the candidates actually have firmly declared that they will run for president during the next 18 months, but Neon Tommy has done some early homework for you to see how differently some of the most talked about potential candidates fall on major issues such as immigration, foreign policy, health care and abortion. Click the infographic below for a closer look. Thursday's debate will be broadcast on Fox News beginning at 6 p.m. PDT.

CLICK HERE to view the large version

Olga Khazan, Aaron Liu, David McAlpine, Callie Schweitzer, Jessika Walsten and Christine Detz contributed to this infographic, drawing from various sources.