First GOP Debate with Recognizable Candidates Will Be on June 13
Things are easier for Newt Gingrich now that he's not the only Republican presidential candidate in the race to make money. Gingrich was once the subject for much derision for his apparent lack of seriousness about campaigning; more than a dozen top campaign aides quit because, among other reasons, Gingrich prioritized film screenings for the Pope John Paul II documentaries he's made with his wife over shaking hands with voters. But now now he's got a partner-in-fake-campaigning. Herman Cain is in Chicago Monday, part of a promotional tour for his book, This Is Herman Cain! My Journey to the White House, which he's doing instead of the normal stuff you do to get to the White House. Now Gingrich and Cain are teaming up to do a special debate in Texas modeled after the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over slavery in the 1858 Senate election, the National Review's Robert Costa reports.
No TV network has signed up to broadcast the event. Democratic strategist Ed Kilgore jokes, " these candidates once again show their unwavering focus on competitive early states, not book markets." With so many candidates treating the campaign as an audition for a job at Fox News, the debate format will serve Cain and Gingrich well. In the original debates, one candidate talked for an hour, then by his opponent for an hour and a half, then a half-hour rebuttal by the first speaker. That 60-minute opener just so happens to be the same length as a primetime Fox News talk show.
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Elspeth Reeve
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