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Politics

Candidates can't say they're being ignored

By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Political Editor
Published August 20, 2007

The 2008 presidential campaign is well under way and the candidates, and voters, already seem to be navigating through a thicket of televised debates. Here's a look at what's happening:

Are there more presidential debates than usual this year?

There sure are. At this point in the 2004 election cycle there had been one televised presidential debate. Sunday's Democratic debate from Iowa on ABC marked at least the ninth of 2007. And that doesn't count the many presidential forums that have been held.

Dozens more are planned over the coming months, including a bunch in Florida: a Fox News Channel/Florida GOP debate in Orlando on Oct. 21, a CNN/YouTube Republican debate in St. Petersburg Nov. 28, and Leadership Florida presidential debates planned for Jan. 23 and 24.

Plus, Univision has forums in Miami scheduled for Sept. 9 and Sept. 16.

Why so many?

Never before has a presidential election started as early as this one, which features competitive and crowded primaries on both the Republican and Democratic sides. More media outlets and groups are interested in hosting debates, and candidates often fear alienating key interest groups by skipping them. But over the weekend, the Barack Obama campaign announced it will increasingly turn down such invitations.

"Unfortunately, we simply cannot run the kind of campaign we want and need to, engaging with voters in the early states and February 5 states, if our schedule is dictated by dozens of forums and debates," said a statement from the campaign.

Anybody watching these things?

Well, they're certainly not pulling American Idol, or even So You Think You Can Dance, numbers. But most of the debates have had fairly strong ratings.

CNN, for instance, saw viewership rise by triple digits when it telecast debates, drawing about 2.8-million for a New Hampshire debate in June, and more than 2.6-million for the Democratic YouTube debate in late July.

All that talk about young people turned off of politics? That YouTube debate attracted more 18- to 34-year-olds than any other debate in cable history.

Are any candidates standing out in these debates?

While some underdog candidates - Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Mike Huckabee - have consistently won high marks for their performances, these forums have mainly solidified the top tier status of the leading candidates.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Rodham Clinton's strong performances have cemented her front-runner position. On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain have all earned high marks.

Weren't some top Republicans planning to skip the YouTube debate in St. Petersburg?

That was when the debate was set for Sept. 17 — during a particularly busy fundraising period — and Giuliani and Romney said they couldn't make it. Giuliani has since committed to the debate rescheduled for Nov. 28, and the Romney campaign said he's willing, though the candidate has criticized the format.

"We're waiting for an official invitation from the CNN/YouTube folks and we'll give it every consideration," said Romney's national campaign manager, Beth Myers.

Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at asmith@sptimes.com or 727 893-8241.

[Last modified August 20, 2007, 00:10:47]