[Torie]

Most of success in life is just showing up. Riordan had to show up, or get bad publicity. He showed up for the debate no? Was it televised? By showing up, he got publicity. He would be delusional if he thought he was going to change anyone's mind, particularly with an activist hard conservative crowd.

[goldstategop]

Yes he got publicity but from what you make it sound, its like he doesn't consider this crowd to be his constituency! So what was he doing there putting in an appearance for? This is the first time in history, by your account, where we've heard of a Republican candidate who wished he was somewhere else. And conservatives will be more than happy to make sure it comes true for him come primary day.