Rick Klein: “It took another fractious debate to unite the GOP candidates: They agree that they don’t like these fractious debates, even if the viewing public seems to. But, as Sunday night’s summit made clear, they agree on almost nothing of what they want out of the debates, aside from longer opening statements and some say over graphics that come on screen. Ben Carson wants fewer debates and more candidates together; Bobby Jindal and Lindsey Graham want more debates and to be alongside the likes of Carson and Donald Trump; Trump wants as few candidates as possible, and definitely wants everything to end inside of two hours. (Campaigns including Marco Rubio and John Kasich’s don’t seem to want major changes at all, and Carly Fiorina was so unworried her campaign didn’t send a representative to the meeting.)”
“It’s likely that the most substantive changes that will grow out of this mini-revolt will have the candidates taking a leading role in negotiating format with individual television outlets, instead of the RNC. That cuts out a middleman who was never interested in getting in the middle of those fights anyway. The campaigns seem to lack either the time, inclination, or unity (these are individuals who want the same job, remember) to make wholesale changes to a locked-in debate schedule. The RNC can’t like the rumblings, but it may wind up cheering the results.”
The Washington Post has a draft letter listing the campaigns’ demands for the next debates.
