I don’t get Fox News and don’t feel like live-blogging this Republican Debate (9 pm EDT) without Tardy Fred.
washingtonpost.com’s Politics Blog The Fix will be live-blogging. Meanwhile, Chris Cillizza has plenty to say about the debate and Fred’s absence therefrom.
From a political strategy perspective, it’s tough to know whether skipping tonight’s debate is savvy or short-sighted by the Thompson campaign. On the one hand, the former Senator is clearly hoping to cast himself as above the current field — a candidate of big ideas — and the longer he is able to avoid appearing on stage with the others in the race, the better he is able to make that argument.
On the other hand, by skipping the debate, Thompson furthers the story line that he wants to be coronated as the nominee rather than really work for it. The sooner Thompson can dispel the idea that he is a lazy politician who wants to run for president by posting on conservative blogs and appearing on conservative talk shows, the better his chances of winning the nomination.
Other sites probably live-blogging: