Donald Trump Debate Now Just A Two-Man Affair

LATimes ^ | December 08, 2011 | Michael A. Memoli

[Steelfish]

Donald Trump Debate Now Just A Two-Man Affair

By Michael A. Memoli December 8, 2011 Is it too late to fire the moderator?

Two more Republican candidates -- Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry -- said thanks but no thanks to an invitation to participate in an Iowa debate managed by real estate mogul Donald Trump.

The Dec. 27 affair has now just two committed participants, one at the top of the GOP field and one distant aspirant, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, respectively.

Perry's campaign said he plans to focus his efforts on traditional retail campaigning in the closing weeks. His campaign announced plans for a 44-town bus tour starting next week.

Bachmann, who earlier this week had expressed reservations about Trump's impartiality, officially RSVPd no Thursday.

Conservative media group Newsmax announced last week it had partnered with Ion Television to host a debate, and had chosen Trump as the moderator.

Before the Perry and Bachmann announcements, Trump acknowledged that his role had given candidates pause.

"People are afraid that I'm going to run as an independent candidate and some of the people that are supposed to be in the debate have expressed that. And I don't want to give up that option, because it certainly is an option," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

[antceecee]

He has nothing to lose by participating. He’s been pretty much shut out of the other forums and their format does not bode well for what the media has decided is a non-candidate.

[eyedigress]

You have ciphered that most correct. It is always message and power.

[EDINVA]

It wouldn’t surprise if some declined because they were afraid that eligibility issue would come up. They just don’t want to touch it with a 10’ pole, especially a week before the IA caucuses.

If I were a candidate, I’d simply suggest that, regardless of where Obama was born, the time will come sooner or later that the SCOTUS will have to determine the Framers’ intent of the ‘natural born citizen’ language inserted in the Constitution for the Office of POTUS, and for that Office only.

[antceecee]

Yes it is.. message and power. The Dimwits understand this so well and they also understand guerrilla marketing of their message, which increases their power. GOP needs a prince to come along and kiss Snow White to wake them up! They are living in a fairy tale slumber.

[antceecee]

Yes.. they may be afraid of eligibility, but then again that would make me like them less. We need a strong candidate that is ready to go out and battle the dragons... ALL OF THE DRAGONS.

[Forty-Niner]

“The backlash against Trump’s debate is probably because he dared to mention the Obama eligibility issue.”

Unfortunately Trump’s questions exposed his lack of knowledge on the issue and only served to advance the Obama agenda/coverup.

Yep,,,,, he’s made a lot of money over the years.... but he’s still a foolish daubler in the political arena. Trumps should stick to what he knows...........

[antceecee]

Right... asking a question exposes lack of knowledge.... Who do you work for? Reminding people of this agenda/coverup does not “advance it” it “exposes it”.

[smoothsailing]

Don’t like the source? Try this one...

http://michellemalkin.com/2011/12/05/trump-ed-up-you-wont-believe-what-eason-jordans-up-to-now/

Another blog idiot, or are you determined to be willfully blind?

[Captain Beyond]

Hey your welcome eyedigress.

I think most of these people trashing this debate know this is going outside the MSM norm and if it catches on they will lose influence. What if Rush Limbaugh decided to hold a debate or Steve Forbes decides to hold a debate? It is Bam!!! lost of influence over the election process that they want to control so bad.

That is why they fought talk radio and the Internet so hard when the new media starting influencing public opinion. I can see the power mongers fearing for their lively-hood as more and more get into the arena of ideas and they can't control what is being put forth.

[antceecee]

Apparently (unlike you), I don't need to read what the designated "ORACLE" of the season has to say in order to THINK for myself. I disagree with Michelle. This debate is a GREAT OFFENSIVE move against the Dem controlled MSM CIRCUS DEBATES we have suffered through to date.

Mix in the slow release of scandal and accusations as they read the polls with which they deliberately take out each and every front runner... leading to the inevitable ROMNEY nomination.

If that is what you want, then head on and trundle right down that path with them.

[smoothsailing]

Michelle is right.

This “debate” is garbage.

And you’re free to fall for it.

Have fun.

[antceecee]

As Bob Dylan once sang.. “the times they are a-changing”... No telling who will hold the next debate! How dare they.. such hubris! OMG... they don’t know a thing... why.. they haven’t even written a political bestseller! The common people cannot possibly understand this without the MAINSTREAM POLITICAL MEDIA FILTER!!!!

[antceecee]

You too.. enjoy your blissful ignorance.

[Captain Beyond]

Yep you are right. The one thing the the Left-Elitists and MSM fear the most is if “We the People” get too involved in the election process. It is the reason they spent so much time trashing the Tea Party.

[Fred]

Here is an ad from the guy that has endorsed R Santorum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iMPjo46das

[antceecee]

What they do not comprehend is that the TEA PARTY is still out there... and they are still mad as hell and will affect a huge change in the next election. So they can put that in their bongs and smoke it.

[EDINVA]

“This “debate” is garbage.”

How do you know that? If, after watching, you call it ‘garbage’ that would be legit, but no one really knows how it will be. And, even if it does turn out to be ‘garbage,’ how would that be different than most of what’s already been held?

IMO, there have been only two debates/fora that were decent, the forum Sen. DeMint held over Labor Day, and the recent Huckabee-hosted debate. Trump can’t be worse than Blitzer, or even Brett Baier for that matter.

[caveat emptor]

Eason Jordan is treasonous scum and no conservative should associate themselves with anything he’s involved in.

Don't want to disagree with you, but I think the injunction against him should be stronger than just "no conservative", though not quite sure just what.

Who is Eason Jordan? I spent at least half an hour the other night looking for info about him. I could find very little, other than his name, education, awards that he recieved, and his blood-for-access confession. No place of birth, no family background, no date of birth, and two bios listed as reference at bottom of his Wiki page don't exist. He was also CNN's chief news executive and president of it's news gathering and international networks. I did come up with an approximate DOB - he was 31 at the time he got his Livingston award in 1991.

I've never paid attention to Trump, and have no idea what to make of this latest caper. He should have at least done his birther bit on Jordan. My interest in Jordan started with the following events. I live in Canada, and at the time of the invasion in 2003 there was no Fox News available here. I read about the invasion on FR and also watched CNN coverage - they were the only US news service there.

I don't remember details of their coverage, but there was the expected doom-and-gloom about US prospects, including predictions of resistance from the Iraqis. On the day that Saddam Hussein's statue was pulled down CNN's negative line was continued, while the pictures showed Iraqis celebrating. Lefties are claiming that was a staged American propaganda event, BTW.

It was shortly after that Jordan made his blood-for-access confession. IMO it was not due to a sudden attack of conscience, but rather a smokescreen to change the subject - to get everyone talking about him and his tough decision, traitorous confession, whatever - to give him time to re-write another disingenuous script that wasn't so glaringly discordant with what was happening there. His confession of slanting the news wasn't much news to me, nor should it have been to anyone who had been paying attention. I have no doubt that he was well rewarded for his sacrifice for the cause.

[Rational Thought]

Don’t you find it interesting that a Politico debate or an MSNBC debate is one which our candidates run to, yet a debate involving Donald Trump is avoided?

To me, this reflects our candidates are part of the herd that fears being viewed as not politically correct and enables the MSM to hold the power which they do.

Great to see many of our candidates appear to share the same campaign philosophy as John McCain did in 2008 (sarcasm).

[RetSignman]

[I don’t know what ION television is...]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ION-Media-Networks-Expands-pz-1442188405.html