Anyone have a guess as to how many TOTAL Republican debates there will be by the time it's over?

[Tx4obama]

The republicans had 21 debates in during the 2008 campaign http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_republican_debates

Regarding the 2012 campaign season...

Yesterday's GOP debate was their 8th.
Last night on The GOP presidential debate schedule there were like only 14 more scheduled.
I just looked and now there are SEVENTEEN more scheduled http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_republican_debates

So, 8 + 17 = 25 debates on the schedule, so far.

Doesn't seem right to me that the republicans get all of that free airtime - I think Obama should get 1 hours worth of free airtime after each GOP debate for a rebuttal.

[Tx4obama]

1. 2008 Democrats

Well, I just looked and The Democrats had 26 debates during the 2008 campaign.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_democratic_debates

Maybe it just seems like the GOP is having an abnormal amount because only GOPers are having them and the dems aren't ;(

[shraby]

3. The more debates the republicans have the better...

with them the old saying holds..it's better to be thought a fool than to open the mouth and remove all doubt. They are removing all doubt.

[Pacifist Patriot]

11. Indeed

[Scurrilous]

17. Yep.

:thumbsup:

[Swede]

2. 999?

[Lucinda]

4. Applauds.

:)

[Sam Hain]

7. Yep. That's a bullseye!

Two thumbs up!

[Kennah]

5. Given the escalation we've seen, I might get my wish of a GOP Presidential Death Match.

As an alternative, I would settle for a GOP Presidential UFC fight.

Oh think of the joy when you see Mittens nut-punching Perry.

Or Cain pinning Gingrich as the ref counts him out: Nine hundred ninety six, Nine hundred ninety seven ...

[ellisonz]

6. 13 more to go - It'll be over by the week after Super Tuesday.

When either Perry or Romney knock each other out and one cries Reagan.

[karynnj]

8. In fairness, any President gets a huge amount of free airtime

That is one of the many advantages to being the incumbent. Two others are that there are some things a President can unilaterally do by executive order - some of which can make a part of the electorate happy. They also get air force one.

As to the free air time, where it is more important is the general election. One major example I can think of is from 2004. John Kerry absolutely killed Bush in the first (foreign policy and national security) debate. They didn't even try to spin it - just conceded Kerry was an outstanding "debater" - trying to minimize Kerry's win. Then, mid week, Bush announced he would make a major foreign policy speech. He was given air time on all 3 networks and gave a speech that addressed many issues where - without a prepared speech (even with a wire which he may have had) he had been awful in the debate.

In addition, the debates at this time are doing two things. They are attacking Obama, but they are also attacking each other. This week's debate had some amazing moments. I don't know if Obama could have done better pushing Romney to show his own shallowness than Perry did on the question of the illegal immigrants that did his lawn. (What on earth was Romney thinking when he added that he told them he was "running for governor, for Pete's sake"? This is a loser on so many levels for Romney - it emphasizes how wealthy and detached he is - and shows his hypocrisy. His answer implies that if he were NOT running for Governor, he wouldn't care - which actually gets to Perry's point - he is a hypocrite on this issue.)

Edited to add this Politico snippet showing how Perry is now using that in an official Rick Perry internet video :

FIRST IN SCORE – PERRY VIDEO TRASHES “MISLEADING” ROMNEY: Rick Perry’s campaign is releasing a dramatic one-minute video that portrays Romney as a deceitful flip-flopper and career politician. It highlights Romney’s response in Tuesday’s debate to Perry’s criticism that he once employed illegal aliens as landscapers through a contractor: “I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake, I can’t have illegals.” The tagline: “You can’t lead a nation by misleading the people.” http://bit.ly/nnKITE

http://www.politico.com/morningscore/1011/morningscore441.html

This is WAY more negative than Dean or Gephardt were to each other.

[barbtries]

9. people watch them?

i can't stand the sound of their voices.

[harun]

12. 1% of people do.

[barbtries]

13. and that's enough apparently

to keep corporate news media busy 24/7. even rachel, who i love, but she covers the republicans constantly as if they actually constitute the news.

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. Free airtime to increasingly show how pathetic they are.

In the mornings I work in an office with quite a few Republicans. Statement from one of these misguided individuals after the last debate, "I can't stomach any more. The more I see of these idiots the more attractive Obama looks."

[Tx4obama]

14. Thank you for sharing :) n/t

[Pacifist Patriot]

18. I'm not saying it's fair. I agree with you both parties should be getting equal airtime.

I'm just delighted they're so willing to broadcast their stupidity this early.

[bigwillq]

15. 667

:shrug:

[Wait Wut]

16. I think he should be the...

...dude asking the questions. Sorry, I'm having a mind spasm and can't remember what the question guy is called. :blush:

Anyway...that would make it a debate worth watching.