. . . all of a sudden. If you guessed “Mitt Romney“, you win!
If Romney confirms his attendance, the listing will be updated to reflect the scheduled debate.
Byron York reported that Romney adviser Stuart Stevens indicated Romney may decline the to attend.
“There are too many of these…We have to bring some order to it. We haven’t accepted Florida…It’s kind of like a cruise that’s gone on too long,” he said.
Stuart Stevens, by the way, is the same guy I referred to in an earlier post as the person who introduced the term “Vulture Capitalism” into the GOP campaign lexicon. He’s also the slimy dirtbag who forwarded Mitt Romney’s attack on Rick Perry’s Social Security reform plan as an attempt to “kill” the program.
When I pointed this fact out to a widely followed conservative on Twitter who was especially dismayed over Newt and Rick Perry having the temerity to challenge Romney’s record at Bain Capital, I was assured at the time that Stuart’s days with the Romney campaign were numbered. Apparently, though, the number is pretty large.
In any event, this is just something to keep in mind as the campaign moves forward in the weeks ahead and Romney’s acolytes (haplessly) beg and plead for conservatives to unite behind their candidate. Recall the japing at Rick Perry over his consideration of skipping a few of the already excessive number of debates at the time and ask yourself whether this would be happening if Mitt Romney were performing up-to-snuff.
Also remember how important it was to have a strong debater cued up to take on Barack Obama, and how crucial debates have become to the electorate in deciding who to support. Can conservatives really unite behind a man too cowardly to face his opponents and hash out their differences before the eyes of the nation now that he’s been outclassed by an opponent whose campaign was considered dead in the water in its infancy?