Preview: GOP Debate on Fox in South Carolina
The same ten Republican candidates who debated at the Reagan Library just ten days ago will take the stage again tomorrow night at 9 p.m. in Columbia, South Carolina, for a debate sponsored by the state's Republican party and Fox News. Fox News broadcasts will be debate centered from 3 pm EDT through post-debate coverage on the "Hannity & Colmes" show.
Leading candidates are "grumbling" about the format for the debate which is 90 minutes, 5 rounds of 10 questions, 60 second answers with 30 second rebuttals or follow ups, no cross questioning, and no opening or closing statements. Brit Hume will moderate and Wendell Goler and Chris Wallace will ask the questions.
Coming as it does close on the heels of the "fallout" from the first debate, it will be interesting to see to what extent this debate extends the narrative of "division on social issues."
Click on "Read More . . ." below for much more of the scoop, and plan to join me on 
at 11:30 pm EDT after tomorrow night's debate.
: Republicans, debate, debates, presidential primary, 2008 elections, Fox
Ten candidates. Could have been three. Or eleven.
To be officially eligible for the debate a candidate had to have been filed to run in South Carolina, paid the state party $25,000, and drawn at least 1% in polls.
Less than two weeks ago there was speculation that the polling rewuirement might limit participation only to the three frontrunners, Giulinai, McCain, and Romney.
But think about it: 1% is less than the margin of error of every poll. In the end, only one candidate was exluded, Illinois Republican, John Cox, who unsuccessfully sued for inclusion. He argued that the polls that were used did not even include his name!
The missing.
John Cox is not the candidate most likely to be mentioned as missing, however. The GOP primary news has been dominated by speculation about Fred Thompson's and Newt Gingrich's potential candidacies. Both poll well above 1%.
A consistent part of the narrative has been Republican lack of enthusiasm for their declared candidates. The Reagan Library venue exacerbated this phenomenon by creating a contrast between the party's current status and the memory of Reagan.
If the primary audience for this debate, the media, continues to frame the story in these terms, the debate may help neither the decalred frontrunners nor the "other seven" in the lower tier. Look for gaffes from less prominent candidates, like Tommy "Not Fred" Thompson's, and difficulty on certain questions, like Rudy Giuliani's on abortion, to ultimately have a winnowing effect.
The issues.
These formats simply do not allow for any depth of debate on issues. Instead, they invite candidates to stake out positions and extend or shift the subsequent media narrative.
The national political narrative is dominated by Iraq, yet there is a somewhat inaccurate depiction of the GOP field as basically unified on that issue.
However, Tommy Thompson's answer on Iraq at the last debate included this:
I believe the al-Maliki government should be required to vote as to whether or not they want America in their country. If they vote yes, it gives us a legitimacy for being there. If they vote no, we should get out.
Now that the majority of the Iraqi government is
on record favoring a timetable for our withdrawal, and now that the Senate minority leader
Mitch McConnell has said we should leave if the Iraqis request it, questions to some or all of the candidates about this issue cry out to be asked.
Immigration (the Senate is taking up a bill this week), trade (is China our trading partner or our greatest long-term geostrategic threat?), and the deficit ("no new taxes" versus "fiscally conservative") are issues that do divide the GOP field. Immigration was barely addressed at the last debate and trade was not touched. Taxes was just a softball question from Chris Matthews there (name a tax you would cut). There is a good opportunity to at least require the candidates to sharpen their positions.
Guns, gays, and abortions, issues on which Rudy Giuiliani staked out a traditionally liberal position at a speech in Houston this week, might take up a third of or more of the debate. Mitt Romney was on 60 Minutes Sunday, questioned about his faith, and is on the cover of Time with the caption, "What does Mitt really believe?"
Fox News.
Allan Louden's intriguing anaysis of the "closed system effect" of MSNBC's coverage of the first two debates of this primary system will get a test now that another network is taking the debate reins. Democrats have refused Fox coverage of their primary debates, fearing an anti-Democratic slant. How friendly will Fox's coverage of this GOP debate be?
Fox's website does not have as much coverage as the dedicated "Debate Central" web coverage MSNBC had, but they do have a place for viewers to submit questions and will have two options for watching via streaming web video:
The program will begin streaming live on FOXNews.com 30 minutes before the televised debate begins, and will run 30 minutes after the debate ends. Four students who are registered Republicans and four who are registered Democrats will debate issues that are important to them, and their microphones will be open during the debate, which they will be watching on a plasma screen television. Viewers on FOXNews.com will be able to hear real-time reaction from the students.
FOXNews.com will also offer a separate stream of the debate for viewers who may want to watch the debate online without commentary from the students.
Bonus but unlikely question:
President
Bush is likely to submit the Law of the Sea Treaty to the Senate for ratification soon. Do you support ratification?
