huge mistake for Perry. This might be his only opening yet to make a comeback...putting together a decent performance in a debate sure to get lots of attention. Also, it will be a different fell from other debates where he has fallen woefully short.
WoW, who’s that leave, Bachmann, Santorum and Newt?
This would be a great opportunity to slam Mittens and Newt for being phonies. Why in the world would you walk away from that opportunity when you are behind?
Of all the candidates, Perry needs this the most. At the very least, he needs the practice.
Stupid move.
Newt is using these debates as free air-time. Smart move.
We don’t know everything. He has a reason.
Good thinking by Perry’s team. No point in being a part of Trump’s Traveling Ego Circus...leave that for the less serious contenders...
Perry is afraid Trump might fire him.
Smart move by Perry. Why participate in anything to do with Donald Trump getting more attention?
Stay as far away from Trump as you can Gov. Perry.
Good move. Trump is nothing more than a one man band looking for someone to listen to him. This won’t be a debate, it will be a listen to the Donald.
Good.
This is a setup to be the Donald Show by Trump who has said he would consider running if the candidates are acceptable to him. What kind of moderator is this?
I hope the event gets cancelled for lack of interest.
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who has said he would consider running if the candidates are *NOT* acceptable to him.
Correct call by Perry, although it must have been very tempting for him to ignore his better judgment because he’s behind in the polls.
Trump is useful in some ways and has some conservative bits to him, but he’s an egomaniacal clown. This debate is for Trump, not for anyone else. If this were hosted by Brit Hume, I’d be all for it.
I think this is a good move. This ‘debate’ is not going to anything more than another Trump reality show where all the participants are used by the Donald to make him lool more important that he really is. Donald’s said he’ll endorse one of the participants after the debate and if that candidate doesn’t win he’ll consider a run as a 3rd party candidate. No self respecting Republican should be a party to that. Who the hell is he to hold a 3rd party run over our heads like that?
I think this is a good move. This ‘debate’ is not going to be anything more than another Trump reality show where all the participants are used by the Donald to make him look more important that he really is. Trump has said he’ll endorse one of the participants after the debate and if that candidate doesn’t win he’ll consider a run as a 3rd party candidate. No self respecting Republican should be a party to that. Who the hell is he to hold a 3rd party run over our heads like that?
Considering his implosion from debates, I have to say this is a good move.
It doesn’t help Perry, but at least it won’t hurt him.
Huckabee is on the right track. Having the Attorneys General asking specific questions about current and proposed legislation, and more importantly, how it effects the individual states, is far more enlightening than the idiotic questions most “journalists” come up with.
I've never been a huge fan of Huckabee, but during the last presidential debates, he was saddled with some of the most absurd and condescending questions asked.
I still think a variation of “Question Time” would be the best debate format for primaries. One at a time, have each candidate face a crowd of current friendly and hostile legislators peppering the candidate with specific questions about legislation they're proposing. It would eliminate candidates who try to get away with just using the currently correct buzzwords.
Campaign promises are great, but proving they could be implemented would boost the candidate's credibility and electability.
I frankly don’t understand it. It’s not a vote for Trump anymore than going on Leno is an endorsement of Leno... or going to Harvard to give a speech there means you approve of Harvard. This squeamishness in the otherwise blood sport of politics (and man does it tend to get nasty!)... makes no sense. The name of the game is changing hearts and minds. What on earth would Donald Trump do to spoil a debate? Would a couple of flip lines from him in which he “steals” the limelight a couple of seconds REALLY change anything substantial? I really doubt it. Perry needs to sip a mojito and chill. Debates are good and healthy, they come in all shapes and sizes, in front of adoring and hostile audiences.
And they’re a helluva lot better than crappy attack commercials fixed up by media professionals. You get to see the mind blanks, the character flaws, you get the SURPRISE questions, the killer comebacks.
I simply don’t understand this nonsense! “Oh no, not Donald Trump - heavens to betsy he’s so... sooo...”
So what? You’ve got a great big country with all sorts of people, and that means you’ll have all sorts of venues.
Debates, live debates, direct confrontations are the best, they’re democracy at its finest. Like I said, way-way better for understanding the candidates than commercials!
good decision by Perry.. intellectually there is no way he could survive on that stage with Newt and just a couple others for two hours... at least he’s smart enough to know his limitations..
Good for Perry. Too bad they all don’t just tell Trump to piss off.