The Republican National Committee announced Friday it would limit the number of presidential primary debates and forums during the 2016 election cycle, acting on concerns that the seemingly endless series of primary debates in 2012 damaged the party's nominee and brand ahead of the general election.
The new rules issued Friday would cut the total number of primary debates dramatically, to at least nine. The first debate will take place in August in Ohio, and the next eight debates will run through February 29, 2016, just after the South Carolina primary. Those eight events, in chronological order, will be held in California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida. Sponsors include CBS News, Fox News, CNN, CNBC, Fox Business Network, ABC News, and NBC/Telemundo.
Each media outlet will set its own threshold for candidate participation, according to the RNC. Those thresholds will likely become more stringent as the primaries continue and the field of candidates is winnowed.
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There were 27 GOP debates and forums in 2012, according to Election Central, if you count the two "Lincoln-Douglas" debates that pitted Newt Gingrich against Herman Cain in one and against Jon Huntsman in the other. Party leaders believe the numerous opportunities for candidates to attack one another took a toll.
"I'm trying to limit the opportunity we have to kill each other," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told the Washington Post. "I've always tried to be a person that sells what I control. I don't like to sell things I don't control. I don't control people's mouths, that's for sure, but what I do control is the length of time we have to kill each other."
Priebus said 2012 debates were "an embarrasment" and "ridiculous," and he vowed after the election to bring the debate process under a tighter yoke by the time 2016 came around.
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