I can pretty much guaranty you there won't be debates

[DianeG5385]

this year, especially if the race is close! With all of the lies out there, Bush* would not dare expose himself to honest questioning. I think Bush* will some "national emergency", likely phony, to bow out of debates! I hope Kerry does solo debates with an empty chair if this happens.

[BOSSHOG]

1. And rice won't testify under oath and in public

BECAUSE SHE IS A REPUBLICAN. You are right, bush won't debate with the cameras on and the microphones pointed at him. The number one job in the bush campaign will be DAMAGE CONTROL. limbaugh and hannity will take care of keeping the lemmings in line but that won't be enough this year.

[Turbineguy]

2. I seem to recall somebody challenging Nixon

to a debate.

"And just to make it fair, I won't shave!"

[DemPopulist]

21. That sounds like Humphrey

I read that he called Nixon "Richard the Chicken-hearted" because of his refusal to debate. Of course, he didn't debate McGovern either.

[Lindacooks]

3. Wouldn't that reflect really badly

on Bush*? It would show him up to be the coward he is. I mean, there have always been debates in the Presidential elections. Can anybody remember a time when there weren't debates?

[bobbieinok]

12. weren't Nixon - JFK the first??? and maybe only one debate

[elperromagico]

18. There have been debates in every election since 1976,

but prior to that, debates were hardly regular. Neither Johnson nor Nixon debated, Nixon for rather obvious reasons (his disastrous TV performances in 1960), and Johnson for less obvious reasons.

[AngryYoungMan]

4. But Bush "won" the 2000 debates!

Just ask the news media. As I recall they gave him all three. Part of it was their carefully selected "undecided" voters (who would make Gilligan look like Stephen Hawking) and part of it was their insane spin of his "fuzzy math" comments and Gore's sighs and beige clothes.

But I'm just saying. Why would the "victor" in the 2000 debates not want to debate again? Especially another "flip-flopper" like Kerry?

On a more serious note, has there EVER been a Presidential race without debates?

[Old and In the Way]

8. Why? Because he has a record now. People will really pay attention.

But he already said on Barbara Walter's 20/20 interview that he'd be too busy to have more than 1 debate. He's got pResidentin duties to attend to, you know.

[rasputin1952]

23. Like fundraisers...

:)

[rockymountaindem]

9. The only reason Bush* "won" the 2000 debates

is because expectations were so low. People were impressed that he only made a minor fool of himself and not a complete jackass. Therefore, he "won".

[no name no slogan]

10. As long as Shrub showed up with his shirt on correctly, he won (nt)

[ThatPoetGuy]

5. There will be debates...

Yes, there will be debates. His Smugness will establish a number of rules for the debates in advance, of course: Kerry will not be allowed to ask direct questions, the questions from the moderators will have to be pre-approved, and the Bush team will need the questions a month in advance in order to script his responses.

It will be roughly the same as the scenarios in which OJ Simpson and the Ramseys allowed the police to question them -- and for roughly the same reasons.

This would be a good time for us to start trying to find ways to turn this against them.

[newyawker99]

25. Hi ThatPoetGuy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[SendTheGOPPacking]

6. I disagree. I think that would backfire on bush.

He has to agree to debates or it will reflect poorly and Kerry will make a weapon of it.

[frylock]

14. the republicans would accuse kerry of politicizing the election..

:crazy:

[SendTheGOPPacking]

15. LOL! They would try!

But elections are political! Duh!

[Hippo_Tron]

17. LMAO...

That one's going in my AIM profile.

[Leilani]

7. There is no way Bush can wiggle out

The public would go bananas.

Unless, we were under martial law because of a new attack?

[bobbieinok]

11. bananas???? - but debates preempt my show.....

[gulliver]

13. ... or news conferences or townhalls ...

Bush is all prepared speeches in front of hand-picked crowds. Reading other people's words is all he does. Compare Bush on Meet the Press to Richard Clarke in front of the 9/11 Commisson.

Bush is a leader why?

[Kal Belgarion]

16. Past debates?

There have been Presidential debates every four years since '76. If my I learned my lessons correctly in Government class, Nixon didn't debate in '68 or '72. He knew they would be televised, and did not want a repeat of his beating in '60 at the hands of JFK.

Now, however, the debates are pretty much a staple of the race. Shrub had better debate. He'll just whip out some of that famous "charm" to woo the voters with. You know, like some more WMD jokes.

[elperromagico]

19. He'll do like he does in every encounter with the press.

Give the same answers regardless of the question. If you've never seen Shrub do it, watch Scott McClellan. McClellan does it constantly, though his style of it is far more robotic than Shrub's "I'm a six-year-old in a school play trying to impress my mother" routine.

[Bombtrack]

20. This is just silly crap. The debate sights are already chosen & scheduled

One at Washington University in St. Louis, one at Arizona State, and one at the University of Miami

[genius]

22. Ruppert Murdock and Tom Brokaw will run them

They will phrase the questions so as to make war look like peace and truth look like lies.

[Auntie Bush]

24. Ruppert Murdock!!!!!!?????

Are you kidding or God help Us,is that true?