Originally Posted by michaelr

Posted November 15th, 2007 by Twiztedklown316

The Republican Party and Fox News have decided to appease Mitt Romney who decided not to attend, and instead of letting the debate go on, they canceled it.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonat...

Fox/Iowa GOP debate off, Romney blamed

The Iowa Republican Party announced today that the debate they had planned in concert with Fox is now off. It was to be December 4th.

The press release issued by the party said it had been cancelled due to unspecified "candidate scheduling conflicts."

But in a statement at the bottom of the release, Iowa GOP executive director Chuck Laudner appears to pin the blame on just one.

"It is too bad that a candidate wouldn't want to take advantage of this kind of debate with representation from all 99 Iowa counties in the audience, let alone the fact FOX News Channel has had the most viewers of any debate," Laudner said.

Per some unhappy Iowa Republican sources, that candidate is Mitt Romney. The state party had been waiting to hear on both Romney and Rudy Giuliani (with either assumedly waiting on the other). When they got word that the poll-leader in the state wouldn't attend, they decided to pull the plug altogether.

Asked about the decision not to take part, Romney's campaign provided the letter they sent to Fox declining to participate.

In it, Romney counsel and adviser Ben Ginsberg notes that they have already taken part in three Fox debates and that there are "a plethora of other debates in Iowa."

The Republicans took part in an ABC debate in Des Moines in August and will almost certainly participate in a Des Moines Register/Iowa Public Televison forum leading up to the caucuses.

But this was to be the state party's own event -- and on what amounts to the GOP's station of record.

Romney and the other leading candidates are, of course, in a difficult spot. They want to limit the number of debates they're particpating in, but that inevitably means offending some.

Iowans guard their first-in-the-nation perogatives fiercely and don't take kindly when they're not accorded the respect (some would say obeisance) they demand. And this is at least the third back-of-the-hand they've gotten this year.

Perhaps most seriously, Romney was the only top tier (at the time) candidate to take part in the Ames Straw Poll -- an event the state party relies heavily on for fundraising. Then, Romney, Giuliani and McCain all skipped the party's Reagan Dinner earlier this month. This especially stung after all the Democratic hopefuls, along with 9,000 activists and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, jammed into a large arena last weekend in Des Moines for their state party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.

UPDATE: The Iowa GOP really is bitter. They're now naming names...




Their political director just sent out the below to county chairs and state central committee members:


From: Craig Robinson
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 2:29 PM
To: 'Craig Robinson'
Subject: FOX News - RPI Debate Cancelled


Dear Friends, Because of Mitt Romney’s unwillingness to participate, the upcoming Republican Party of Iowa/FOX News Channel Presidential Debate on December 4th has been cancelled.


We are very disappointed that Iowa Republicans will not have the same opportunity as Republicans in New Hampshire, Florida and South Carolina had earlier this year with their FOX News Debates.


The Republican Party of Iowa decided to partner with FOX News Channel because of their willingness to broadcast a live prime-time debate, with a large audience comprised of activist and caucus goers from all of Iowa’s 99 counties. We were also working with FOX News on a remote broadcast from one of Iowa’s 1784 precincts, featuring caucus goers from that precinct.


It was our hope to use a nationally-broadcast debate on FOX News and FOX News Radio to showcase Iowa’s unique caucus system at a time when the most people would be paying attention to the Presidential race in the days leading up to January 3rd.


You will be able to watch the Republican Presidential Candidates debate on TV before the January 3rd Caucuses at the following other debates: Sunday, December 9, 2007 – 7:00 p.m. EST: Univision Television Wednesday, December 12, 2007 – 1:00 p.m. CST: Des Moines Register Debate, moderated by Carolyn Washburn and broadcast by Iowa Public Television.


Again, we are disappointed that this debate has been cancelled. We know that hundreds of you have requested tickets and made plans to attend. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience

Wow this is shocking, maybe now people will see through this so called news agency!

Originally Posted by johnlocke

Nah. Most Faux readers/viewers are trying to figure out "plethora".

Madge, isn't a plethora that fish that we saw on Jack Kewstow? You know, the one that hangs onto sharks?

Originally Posted by Freedom for All

Normal stuff for Iowa. Why that miniscule state demands such an important place in choosing my president is less of a mystery than why it's allowed to have that position by my state, California.