[rockvillem]

Decisive how?

That was exactly my reaction too. Debates being held 13+ months before the general election and 10 months before the convention are "decisive"? Good grief.

[GOPyouth]

That was exactly my reaction too. Debates being held 13+ months before the general election and 10 months before the convention are "decisive"? Good grief.

The primary elections start in about 3 months. This thing will be decided within 6 months.

[ngat]

I have not heard how many more of these pre-primary debates they are going to televise before the end of the year. I expect they will not have many more. Then, when the debates are over, before the holiday season starts, the media will take Perry and Romney and the polls will say they are two “leaders” and they will get the most attention, and interviews until the serious primary campaigning and voting begins. So, the debates will have served their purpose of narrowing the field, primarily for the media. In this way, the media through the primary voting process can settle, pre-convention, who the candidate will be, instead of the people and their delegates deciding at the convention.