Debates Have Negative Impact on GOP Field

As we often tell kids, for every decision and action there are consequences. And some consequences are emerging from the large number of Republican debates:

Televised debates have had an outsize impact on this year’s Republican presidential race. But the demands of the debating schedule — Saturday’s event in South Carolina was the eleventh major clash — is taking its toll on the candidates, who find themselves constantly preparing for primetime.

The frequency of the debates cuts back on the time available for retail politicking in Iowa and other early-voting states. Even seasoned campaign veterans are now beginning to ask: How many debates are too many?

“Debates are good, but we’re reaching overload,” Ed Rollins told The Hill. Rollins, who was the campaign manager for Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) before stepping down in September, added that under the current schedule “there are going to be 20-plus debates in this primary process. That is way too many.”

Rollins is one of the of the must-listen-to political bigwigs. MORE:

Political professionals note that debates — the preparation, the logistics, the debate itself and the post-event ‘spinning‘ — take up an enormous amount of time. It is plausible that some of that time could be better spent building up the grassroots in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“You can’t just have an air war,” said David Yepsen, who covered many presidential campaigns during a 34-year career with The Des Moines Register. “You have to have an air war and a ground war.”

Even Rollins observed with some sympathy that the campaign of Gov. Rick Perry (Texas) has “basically lost a week in a very critical period, when you only have about six weeks to go” before the first votes are cast.

And there is another factor: Republicans are now too far into it with scheduling for anyone to sudden drop out (Rick Perry found that out when he pondered out loud about skipping debates and was lambasted by many, including yours truly, for seeming to avoid poor debate performances on his part). Some say the debates have not helped the field. But there is no doubt that there is a winnowing down of the field. Better now than during a debate with Barack Obama.