Dem
51
GOP
49
The Republican National Committee has already announced plans for two candidates' debates; one in Wisconsin and one in California. Naturally, the various wannabe nominees are all champing at the bit for the chance to make an actual dent in the polls. And then there's Donald Trump, who offered up this on his boutique social media platform yesterday:
I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them. When you're leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the 'questions,' why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?
He's particularly unhappy about the second debate. As a fellow who sees conspiracies everywhere, Trump thinks that because Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan is on the Board of Trustees at the Reagan Library, that somehow means... something. We're not sure how a library trustee can put his thumb on the scale for a presidential debate hosted at that library, but then again, we're not in Trump's head. Thank goodness.
Regardless of his stated reasons, which are silly, Trump is absolutely right that he should not come within a country mile of the debates. First of all, debate prep requires a lot of work, and he hates doing work. Second, he does not enjoy the debate format (he wants fawning rally crowds, not uppity questioners) and he's not good at it. Third, and most importantly, he does not want to be everyone's target, which he might well be if he continues to hold a commanding lead in the polls. That's not certain, given how terrified Republicans are when it comes to attacking the Dear Leader. But if Trump skips the debates, he removes all doubt, and guarantees that the participants who do show up will spend most of their time attacking each other and leaving him out of it.
For these reasons, we'd be somewhat surprised if Trump shows up to debate. And if he declines, well, it will be interesting to see what the RNC does. Ronna Romney McDaniel & Co. might be happy to have him take a pass, since he tends to be an obnoxious presence when he does show up. On the other hand, if he's not there, nobody will take the debates especially seriously, and there will be little chance for any of the participants to make up ground on Trump.
If the RNC decides that Trump simply must attend, there are ways to "incentivize" him. For example, "if you don't participate in the debates, you don't get access to WinRed." Or "anyone who does not participate in the debates cannot earn delegates in the first three primaries." Either of those would certainly get Trump's attention, though the RNC has not generally been willing to flex its muscles with him, so the odds of that happening here seem pretty slim to us. Surely, McDaniel must be wishing she had a nice, easy, low-stress job like DNC chair Jaime Harrison does. (Z)