Romney/Ryan are going to bail on the debates.

[Frank Cannon]

I just don't see how they're going to go through with them. Ryan demonstrates in EVERY appearance that he is a rapid-fire, pathological liar. Romney literally tells a different story every time he thinks he needs to change it for the audience, even if it's during a single appearance. Neither wants to discuss the specifics of anything they plan to do. The POTUS and VPOTUS are hip to all of that. They will come armed to the teeth with the cold equations and facts, and they will deliver those equations and facts powerfully with the cool confidence of a Man in Black.

Even if Romney and Ryan cheat and come to the debates wired (as I suspect Bush did in 2004), it's not going to help them. Obama and Biden will still have time to dissect their bullshit and point out all of their inconsistencies. Romney gets visibly irritated and pissy when that happens to him, and Ryan babbles faster and sounds like even more of an idiot. Plus the Romney/Ryan camp has shown repeatedly that the people who would be speaking in their ears are even more incompetent than they are. And the additional tried-and-true GOP tactic of "making the other candidate look so intimidating and formidable that if your candidate doesn't shit his pants on stage, he'll look good" won't work, either. Again, Romney and Ryan have personality and cognitive deficiencies that are guaranteed to make them fuck up in a way that viewers won't forget.

So here's how I think it will play out: Romney will demand that Obama agree to leave the "irrelevant" discussions of Romney's tax returns, his time at Bain, and his record as Governor out of the debates entirely, as these topics have nothing to do with this nation's current economic situation and the problems of hurting Americans. The Obama camp will, of course, tell him to go jump in the lake. Butt-hurt Romney will then say that this is absolute proof that the President doesn't want to focus on his own miserable record, and that the American people don't want to watch debates that won't focus on the issues. In a gesture of bold defiance, he will then refuse to participate. Ryan, in a show of solidarity, will join him in this brave boycott. (It is, after all, what John Galt would do.) The "liberal" MSM will, of course, aggressively sell this farce to the American people 24/7, and two weeks later, we will be so engrossed in American Idol, we'll forget that we ever had Presidential debates in this country in the first place.

So that's my opinion. You heard it here first.

[ananda]

1. I don't think they will.

The rightwing media has gone to some lengths
to make the debates their own.

[BlueStreak]

21. They have nothing to lose. They'll show up.

The reality is that the debates the past 3 or 4 cycles have been very poor. 90-minute snooze-fests where nobody seriously confronts any issue and there is very little real "debating". There are almost never any substantive things revealed.

I don't see where either Ryan or Romney will improve their standing through these debates, mainly because:

1) They both are really poor candidates

2) They both lie a lot

3) Nobody really likes them much

4) The policies they are pushing are mostly hated by America

But they have nothing to lose. They are losing already. The upside is all theirs.

[get the red out]

2. No, their egos lie to them

These two have no clue how stupid they sound sometimes, they will debate and think they won no matter what.

[Scuba]

3. +1

[onenote]

4. You're entitled to your opinion

But pigs will fly before you're right. (My opinion).

[Swede Atlanta]

35. Pigs already fly........

As emotional support animals..US Airways had a pot-bellied pig on a flight to Seattle a few years ago.

[earthside]

5. We hear this every four years.

The debates will happen.

Even Sarah Palin ended up 'debating'.

Truth is that these are hardly 'debates' ... they are glorified press conferences and the participants are so heavily prepped and managed that it is difficult for one of them to actually do badly.

Indeed, it is rarely anything of substance that determines who 'wins' or 'loses' ... it tends to be who looked at their watch at an inopportune moment, who walked into the other candidates personal space, who said 'O'Biden' instead of Obama, etc.

To duck out of a debate would be political suicide, plain and simple. Rmoney showed during the Repuglican primaries that he can hold his own in these debates, and Ryan will be so scripted that he will do just fine.

That being said, Obama and Biden will 'win' these debates because they are more experienced and have a better message. But my prediction is that there won't be any kind of 'knockout punch' from these events, there rarely is ... they tend to confirm and solidify where voters are going more than anything else.

[Frank Cannon]

9. Rmoney was debating another group of clowns.

It was like watching the Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland. Obama and Biden have got game and will bring it.

And not everything that happens during a debate is scripted. Ryan can't ad lib to save his life. He just sounds like he doesn't have a clue about what he's talking about.

[gordianot]

18. The trip to the Olympics convinced me of Romney's epic stupidity.

How could a Republican candidate possibly screw up a trip with the Government of our closest ally and unite both conservative and liberal politicians? Even the scripted format will be difficult for someone who repeatedly blows campaign stops at local food venues. In the hatefest of the Republican debates Romney showed he could be the biggest prick on stage. In a venue where someone has to show humanity even with a script he is as alien as a garden slug. At one point in his life Romney did a fair job convincing people he was progressive. He has also done a fair job convincing people he is conservative. He seems to be unable to convince anyone except his wife he is human. I do not think he has flipped on any issues Romney has no core values he is something unique a "tabula rasa" and he brings nothing to anyones table. If he was trying to out liberal Obama with the 2002 Romney, Mitt would stand a chance and he could out conservative Santorum and Gingrich. Quantity appears to be Romney's strongest asset but quality escapes him. It appears that his handlers are trying to make him appear human, no need to score a knockout just pass the salt he is not human.

[Johonny]

23. The debates are framed on conservative issues and conservative politics

so why wouldn't Republicans go to them. I mean even Sarah Palin looked... ok because they debated only their fake issues. That Republicans lose a lot of recent presidential debates just shows hoe horrible politics has become in this country. Is there a point to watching them... only if your interested in bombing Iran which no doubt we will pointlessly be debating this fall.

[SDjack]

6. It will come down to the poll spread at decision time.

If R&R are better than -3 points, no debate. If the spread is over +3 points for Pres. Obama, then R&R take a chance on winning the debates.

[tjdee]

7. No, they already won.

They have really done a number here--they have convinced followers that the media is liberal, so if the media says they lied they'll not believe.

And don't forget, Obama and Biden are MASTERS of debate acc to the MSM and if Romney/Ryan don't poop all over themselves they did a good job!

Are you better off than you were four years ago?

Nothing to see here, move along.

[sweetapogee]

8. no

The idea is to lower the expectations then claim "victory". And it probably will work.

[randome]

29. We are in new territory this election.

The past is not necessarily a predictor of the future.

[HughBeaumont]

10. R-Money is continually horrible when not tossed underhand softballs.

He has absolutely no idea how to answer a non-canned "question" that he gets when he's on Republican safe havens like CNBC or Faux. CNN doesn't necessarily press him either. R-Money is particularly bad at questions where he can't employ his corporate "Sell the Mystery, Not the Mastery" technique when it comes to specific details of his plan (e.g. How he intends to pay for across-the-board tax cuts). Ryan is also most comfortable in CNBC's softball field.

I think both Romney and Ryan are going to get their asses handed to them, despite what the gaggle of idiots on Yahoo or YouTube mistakenly think.

[OregonBlue]

31. I agree that R-money can't answer a non-canned question but do you really believe they will get any

non-canned questions?

[Logical]

11. No way in hell, and you know it. $100 bet to charity???

[reflection]

12. I'll take that bet.

Although I confess I can't match Romney's "gentleman's bet" of $10,000.

[siligut]

13. K&R for, "Butt-hurt Romney"

Moderators, Jim Lehrer, Martha Raddatz and Candy Crowley. Maybe Lehrer will be objective, maybe. That is if pigs fly and the earth's magnetic field reverses and Mitt and Lyan Ryan get lost on their way to The Caymans and accidently stumble into the debates.

[dixiegrrrrl]

37. Who are Martha Raddatz and Candy Crowley???

I know who Lehrer is, but am tv-less, so have not been able to keep up with talking heads on the "news" shows.

[siligut]

38. They will be good moderators

Candy interviewed Bush after 9/11 and she was polite and professional, as she should have been. Martha was born in Utah, so I had a knee-jerk reaction.

Am I wrong to think that there will be bribes? Am I just jaded due to the easy money flowing into the Romney campaign? The power of money was the thought in the back of my mind when I posted.

Maybe I just should have stated my admiration for Lehrer and left it at that. The analysis afterward is probably where the most bias will be seen.

[berni_mccoy]

14. If they bail they will be conceding the election openly. I don't think they will do that.

[lunatica]

15. Obama would agree not to bring up the taxes

because he doesn't need to use that issue at all in order to win a debate. Remember Obama took on a room full of Republicans who could ask him anything. He won without any notes or teleprompters without even breaking a sweat. And he did it in the first few months of his Presidency.

[ecstatic]

27. It was truly amazing! Nt

[barbtries]

16. we'll see.

i hope they show up and there's a fire engine close when they start talking.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. I agree that dread is the color they will wear to debate Obama and Biden but they must debate

That whole final paragraph is just not how things would work.
If Mitt was not a trailing, unlikable snit of a man, perhaps he could cast himself as 'put upon' but America agrees that his taxes and his business record are on the table. He's Richy Rich, and he's far from put upon. Won't play.
And for perspective, re American Idol, I wonder if you are aware that just once in it's history Idol got more viewers than Obama's speech at the DNC? Idol is just a popular TV show, we've had such shows since TV began, it is not new that entertainments are popular. Most Americans, dig this, most Americans have never seen an episode of American Idol. You watch it, many do, most don't. But somehow, you think the entire nation is controlled using a show a tiny portion of the population watches, for entertainment. It is offensively arrogant to claim that people who seek out an entertainment, or sports are mindless and incapable of understanding 'fun' vs 'politics'. I mean, do you never, ever watch something for fun? Ever? No sports, no HBO, no Shakespeare, no nothing? Or is it that YOU can handle it, but others are just stupid? How does it work...
I mean, for example, what do you do with the 300+ million Americans who are not watching Idol? How do you get them to go along with your scenario? Who and what covers that vast majority of American minds?

[DetlefK]

19. If Romney doesn't want to, Obama and Biden could hold a debate...

[Brother Buzz]

28. Come on, say it....

With an empty chair

[WI_DEM]

20. That would be committing political suicide so it won't happen...

every year since 1976 there have been debates and even St. Ronnie debated. It the Romney campaign pulled out their polls would slide. Even Romney knows his only chance now is in debates. Yes, I know we 'heard it here first' but it won't happen. Remember when McCain tried to get out of the debate during the fiscal crisis in '08--the pummeling he got?

[swayne]

22. I agreed with you up until the American Idol part. American Idol starts in January.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. No.

With the 3 (Presidential debate) moderators that they selected, at least 2 of them (Creepy Crawly and Bob Shitferbrains) are guaranteed to ensure that Rmoney "wins" by doing a redux of the 2008 debates by focussing on nonsense against Obama. I can imagine them laser-targeting crap like Bin Laden and the Seals, or Fast and Furious and other irrelevent topics. And Rmoney will get the softballs or even nerfballs.

Rmoney and Lyin Ryan have nothing to worry about because if these moderators already let them go on and on with their lies, non-answers, and word salads, they will surely continue to let them do so in the debates.

[Nye Bevan]

25. Absolutely wrong. Politics 101 says that if you are behind in the polls, you *want* debates.

And I am looking forward to them. How Romney deals with his missing tax returns, and the fact that he wants to allow insurance companies to refuse coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, will be fascinating.

[ecstatic]

26. Interesting. And they'd probably lie and say Obama canceled

the debates. Would our non functioning media clarify which side was telling the truth?

But in all seriousness, I think Team Obama should video record every interaction with Romney's campaign going forward.

[Arkana]

30. They can't NOT go through with them.

Being seen as cowards and refusing to debate Obama and Biden would be the worst thing they could do besides butchering a litter of puppies in front of a live audience. Are you kidding? They'd get skewered.

[ThoughtCriminal]

32. They will debate, just so that their pundits can declare them "Winners"

No matter how badly they humiliate themselves.

The talking heads will say:

Romney "Scored points"
Ryan "Held his own"
Both "Stuck to their principals"

Get you Pundit GOP Talking Points Debate Bingo Cards and Drinking Game ready.

[librechik]

33. huh? If you ask them, THEY think they're doing just peachy!

they're going to WIN the debates and WIN the election because Obama is a (fill in the blank)

Seriously, that's the talking point strategy from now til November--act like Romney winning is a certainty, because Obama is (an aborted fetus, a communist fascist, a terrorist, a Chicago mobster, a homosexual, a foreigner, a liar, an egghead, a baby killer) and don't accept any other rhetoric.

Oh, and avoid talking about the actual candidates and the ugly and illogical GOP agenda. Those are big fat losers. Go with the hate. They can always count on their side voting out of hatred.

[Tarheel_Dem]

34. I predicted, over the weekend, that Rmoney would do the first, and find a reason to cancel the....

followups. But you may be right.

[On the Road]

36. A Trailing Candidate is Not Going to Cancel the Debates

which in itself would put him a little further behind.

Romney WILL try to skew the specifics of the debates to give him an advantage. He might try something risky. But the debates will come off.

[ksoze]

39. They wil go on and both will wow their sides

The polarization in this electorate will make the debates a wash under most any circumstance if both avoid any huge guffaws. The other side will see their candidate as the winner and seize even the slightest faint of a good point or response. Just showing up will keep the base happy and the "results" can be spun after. I suspect they are coming up with good zingers to throw when they are trapped - as debates seem to be usually remembered by the on liners, regardless of overall performance.

[JPZenger]

40. Palin proved that even an idiot can through a debate by memorizing talking points

The debates are set up to allow for memorized answers. Even if the moderator tries to ask a trick question, the candidate still responds with the stock answer. There needs to be more back and forth, such as letting one candidate ask a question of the other candidate.