I've said it before; "There will be no presidential debates!"

[benburch]

I predicted months ago that Bush would use whatever was available to weasle out of debating Kerry. There is no "upside" for him in the debates.

I predict Bush will claim one or more of;

1. He is too busy fighting a war or defeating terrorism to debate.

2. John Kerry is being obstructionist and not allowing "fair" debating rules.

3. Security concerns will not permit a debate.

4. A state of emergency (manufactured just for the debate) requires his undivided attention.

5. Emergency surgery on his deviated septum has Bush barely hanging on to life...

Okay, not the last one... :-)

My bottom line- There will be no debate because Bush does not find his ideas to be open to discussion.

[Goldmund]

1. I disagree

There will be no debate only if they're planning to have no election. Weasling out of the debates would carry a huge political cost -- maybe not as huge as it should be due to the corporate media spin/brainwashing, but huge enough.

[rock]

7. I agree with you and the original poster

I know this is a contradiction, but I can see no way out. Bushsucks* cannot avoid all debates because of the political consequences, yet he cannot stand to have even on (because of the political consequences). I really have know idea how this will be resolved.

[OneBlueSky]

2. yup . . . been saying the same thing . . .

Bush can't afford to be on a stage, unscripted, with John Kerry in his present state (whatever the hell it is) . . . they'll find a way out . . . and probably a way to blame Kerry . . .

[POed_Ex_Repub]

3. I think he'd agree to debates...

As long as every word is scripted beforehand by his handlers.

[NC_Nurse]

4. I think he will agree to at least one debate

and he will stick to his BS talking points no matter what the question.

I doubt he will go for the "town hall" format, he can't deal with reality and spontaneity.

[acmavm]

5. I totally agree. No debates. Always remember, bush* is a coward.

And his handlers know that he can't string words together and make a sentence, not if they want it to sound more intelligent than the OB/GYNs practicing their love fiasco.

Not gonna happen.

[LibertyLover]

6. Debates

I think there will be at least one debate, after which Bush will be declared the clear winner by Fox News because he didn't mispronounce Kerry's name and remembered to use the phrase - My fellow Americans -at least once in context, correctly.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. That sounds like the most likely scenario, sadly

The rightwing media will pounce all over how Shrubbie McAWOLFuckWad won the debate soundly, even though he will have been barely literate, and eventually America will just fall in line, like it always does, and say "Oh, well, they're the experts, they should know. Guess Kerry's good performance really wasn't, and it must just show what a loser weasel he is. I bet those SwiftBoat guys are right. He IS a coward."