It seems as though the Republican’s version of the YouTube debate may not go off on September 17th after all:
The GOP version of the CNN/YouTube debate is still scheduled for Sept. 17, but may be moved to a later date.
CNN spokeswoman Mara Gassman says CNN’s Washington bureau chief and debate executive producer David Bohrman is talking with the Republican presidential campaigns about scheduling issues.
Gassman could not say more beyond issuing a statement from Bohrman: “We’re working with the campaigns to resolve any scheduling issues.”
Some news Web sites stated this weekend that the debate is being moved to a later date, and Ron Paul’s blog says it’s being moved to December.
The possible postponement follows an announcement from Mitt Romney this past week that he planned to skip the debate. The former Massachusetts governor told C-SPAN on Friday that he would not attend the debate because the Democratic version did not show proper respect to the presidential selection process. Romney was particulary concerned that one of the user-submitted questions (on the environemnt) came from a snowman. But now Romney is in discussions with CNN about attending. Rudy Giuliani has expressed similar concerns, and has suggested he may also snub the debate.
From what I saw of it, last week’s Democratic debate seemed inane in the extreme, but I think it would be a mistake for the Republicans to skip it at this point. It would make them seem like they didn’t want to engage the public, and they’re in bad enough shape already.
