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04-26-2011, 04:50 PM
RNC Chairman Wants to Limit GOP Presidential Debates
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus wants to bring order to an otherwise-chaotic presidential primary process.
The new chairman wants to limit the number of Republican primary debates by putting the official RNC stamp of approval on a handful that would start this summer and go up until the primaries kick off early next year.
“The idea of having 20 different forums and 20 different groups is a little much,” he said during a press breakfast in Washington Tuesday sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “We need to have some order in our debate process.”
Mr. Priebus said the proposal is modeled off of the Democratic National Committee’s plan from the 2008 cycle.
“In ’08, it seems like we had 50 different debates, and we had our candidates trotting around all over the country debating each other with low viewership,” he added. “I think fewer is better, and perhaps waiting might be better as well.”
As for the calendar itself, Mr. Priebus is holding out hope Florida will move its scheduled primary back from late January until early March to allow Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada their spots as the first four contests in the country. But he acknowledged that the others would leapfrog the Sunshine State if Florida refuses to budge. All four are currently scheduled for February, so the candidates aren’t campaigning feverishly over the holidays in December.
“I’m sure if they stay in January, all the other states would move up,” he said.
The new RNC chairman was even more circumspect when it comes to the emerging field.
“We don’t know who’s going to be in the race,” he said. “It’s still pretty early.”
He could only offer, “I certainly think that by the end of summer, we’re going to have a pretty solidified field.”
Mr. Priebus said he “wasn’t completely surprised” by former RNC chairman and current Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s decision not to run for president in 2012. While running for RNC chairman, Mr. Priebus got support from a number of people in Mr. Barbour’s political universe.
The RNC chairman also didn’t take the bait when he was asked about potential 2012 candidate Donald Trump’s opposition to the House Republican budget, his blithe dismissal of the U.S. defaulting on its debt and his claims that he would pay for a war in Libya by taking the country’s oil.
“It’s Donald Trump’s right to get on TV and say whatever it is that he wants to say, and it’s up to the voters of this country to choose the nominee,” he said matter-of-factly.
Oh, and he also doesn’t want to talk about continued questions about where President Barack Obama was born – a Trump favorite.
“I have no reason to believe the president was not born in Hawaii,” he said. “I’ve got better things to do.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/04/26/rnc-chairman-wants-to-limit-gop-presidential-debates/tab/print/
Hmmm.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus wants to bring order to an otherwise-chaotic presidential primary process.
The new chairman wants to limit the number of Republican primary debates by putting the official RNC stamp of approval on a handful that would start this summer and go up until the primaries kick off early next year.
“The idea of having 20 different forums and 20 different groups is a little much,” he said during a press breakfast in Washington Tuesday sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “We need to have some order in our debate process.”
Mr. Priebus said the proposal is modeled off of the Democratic National Committee’s plan from the 2008 cycle.
“In ’08, it seems like we had 50 different debates, and we had our candidates trotting around all over the country debating each other with low viewership,” he added. “I think fewer is better, and perhaps waiting might be better as well.”
As for the calendar itself, Mr. Priebus is holding out hope Florida will move its scheduled primary back from late January until early March to allow Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada their spots as the first four contests in the country. But he acknowledged that the others would leapfrog the Sunshine State if Florida refuses to budge. All four are currently scheduled for February, so the candidates aren’t campaigning feverishly over the holidays in December.
“I’m sure if they stay in January, all the other states would move up,” he said.
The new RNC chairman was even more circumspect when it comes to the emerging field.
“We don’t know who’s going to be in the race,” he said. “It’s still pretty early.”
He could only offer, “I certainly think that by the end of summer, we’re going to have a pretty solidified field.”
Mr. Priebus said he “wasn’t completely surprised” by former RNC chairman and current Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s decision not to run for president in 2012. While running for RNC chairman, Mr. Priebus got support from a number of people in Mr. Barbour’s political universe.
The RNC chairman also didn’t take the bait when he was asked about potential 2012 candidate Donald Trump’s opposition to the House Republican budget, his blithe dismissal of the U.S. defaulting on its debt and his claims that he would pay for a war in Libya by taking the country’s oil.
“It’s Donald Trump’s right to get on TV and say whatever it is that he wants to say, and it’s up to the voters of this country to choose the nominee,” he said matter-of-factly.
Oh, and he also doesn’t want to talk about continued questions about where President Barack Obama was born – a Trump favorite.
“I have no reason to believe the president was not born in Hawaii,” he said. “I’ve got better things to do.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/04/26/rnc-chairman-wants-to-limit-gop-presidential-debates/tab/print/
Hmmm.