The Republican presidential debates so far have included one hosted by Fox News, two hosted by the Fox Business Network, and two hosted by CNN and the conservative Salem Radio Network and featuring Salem’s Hugh Hewitt. Coming next week: another from Fox News. But that wasn’t a concentrated enough dose of right-wing debate moderation for the tastes of today’s conservative movement. It fell apart in the end, but there were plans for something much, much further right:
It was to be an event by and for the GOP’s base, free of the constraints of a big network, to ensure candidates a forum to speak about conservative issues in a conservative frame for conservative voters.
That debate would have happened this week at Liberty University with The Washington Times in the lead. [...]
The debate would have been a first on several counts. There would have been no network controlling the debate; the signal would have been an open feed, meaning any one could broadcast the debate or live stream it on their site. Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Bloomberg Politics’ Mark Halperin were approached about moderating. And questions would have been culled from viewers of local news outlets around the country, students at Liberty University and soldiers stationed overseas.
Instead, the idea went down in flames, with the Republican National Committee saying it wasn’t up to the task of hosting a debate without a major network to help with logistics, but fingers are also pointing at the candidates’ fury after they faced a few tough questions at the October CNBC debate. Risking hard questions from people they couldn’t assail as the liberal media (CNBC, FFS) might have been too much for the tender sensibilities of people like Donald Trump and Chris Christie as they postured about what tough guys they are.