On Nov. 26, Howard Kurtz
mused in the Washington Post about what a waste of time the debates have been, and made the following observation:
"Here is the problem; each campaign is afraid to say no. These debates are a media racket and the campaigns are afraid to buck the law. So on they march on to the Weather Channel Thunderclap 2003 Showdown Debate in Tuscaloosa..."
I found this amusing as it is not unlike a company such as the one for which I toil trying to decide whether to attend trade shows: lots of time spent in preparation, thousands upon thousands of dollars spent, often not nearly enough customers [or viewers, in the case of the candidates]. But they still go, because if they don't, that becomes the story and everyone wonders what's wrong.