GOP Candidates Want Less Debate, More Propaganda

Republican candidates, following the lead of standard bearer RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, have been busy since Wednesday night's debate whining about the questions asked by CNBC's debate moderators.  They say the debate was heavy on  "gotcha" and weak on substance.  

what eye thynk:  I agree with them to some extent--last week's debate was advertised as a forum on economic policy, but specific questions on economic issues seemed to be given afterthought status by CNBC's panel.    Of course, there were moments when candidates chose to whine about previous questions while refusing to answer the type of question they were whining about being AWOL.  Ted Cruz' rant is a prime example.

By Thursday, the candidates, led by the organizations behind Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham decided that the real problem was the RNC itself and the way it had structured the debates and vetted the moderators. Campaign representatives for Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Rick Santorum now plan to join the Trump-Carson-Jindal-Graham cabal on Sunday evening to discuss unequal talking time (Rand Paul and Jeb if his campaign attends), the criteria used to choose those who get invited to the grown-up table (Jindal and Graham) and how the next debates should be structured.  No one from the RNC has been invited.

But here's the thing:  If the candidates are successful in forcing the RNC into allowing them to choose their own formatting and moderators--in essence making it less a debate and more a two-hour conservative propaganda expo--expect them to select moderators from the far-right and subject matter that highlights the candidates conservative bona fides.  And that would be a huge mistake.

Once far-right pundits are given free rein to question the candidates on their ideological purity, there is no turning back.  The picture of GOP candidates trying to out "far-right" each other may bring accolades from the evangelical, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-minority crowds; but it will also expose how out of touch they are with mainstream American voters--the voters who will actually count in 2016.

Allowing the candidates to dictate what they are asked and by whom, will also leave them woefully unprepared for the time when their anointed candidate faces their Democratic opponent and the type of tough questions they can't control.

In short, the candidates, in an effort to ease their own debate anxieties and soothe their sensitive egos, seem to be pushing their party toward a guaranteed GOP disaster in 2016.  That works for me.