“But of course Romney knows a trap when he sees one so he was wise to decline.”
The VAST majority of the public will not see this decision as having been motivated by wisdom of any kind.
I agree. This was damage control by Romney in advance. Reject the offer of a debate and suffer now or accept and suffer much more in the future. This will hurt Romney but not as much as losing a debate to Gingrich.
This is really a terrific strategy by Gingrich. After all his offer was accepted by Cain and rejected by Romney. Do you think that fact just might come up occasionally in future Newt interviews?