Upset GOP candidates hope to forge a united front on debates

Republican presidential candidates are seeking more control over the debate process, furious with CNBC and the Republican National Committee (RNC) over Wednesday night’s debate. 

A possible outcome, one campaign aide said, is that the candidates will agree not to participate in a debate unless they first agree to how it will be conducted. 

{mosads}“After the last debate debacle, the campaigns have started communicating directly with each other to try and figure out how we can keep another disaster from happening where the moderators become the story,” said Hogan Gidley, a spokesman for Mike Huckabee. “That’s a cardinal sin in journalism, and we are sick and tired of it, and it’s not going to happen again.” 

The candidates expressed frustration during and after the debate over the network pitting the candidates against one another and focusing on negative and personal aspects of their records.  

Representatives from many of the campaigns will meet in Washington on Sunday night in hopes of forging a consensus, though that could be difficult. 

For instance, GOP front-runner Donald Trump wants control over the logistics to ensure the debates don’t run too long and feature opening and closing statements. 

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who is inching closer to the real estate mogul in recent polls, wants more time for the candidates to be able to expound on their policy ideas so they’re not confined to short responses.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, and others are upset with unequal speaking time for candidates onstage and with the negative and personal nature of questions from moderators. 

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has been in the second-tier debates because of low polling numbers, doesn’t believe national polling should determine who gets on the main stage. 

And Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), also relegated to the rush-hour debates, wants the field split in half with random draw determining who is on stage in two separate debates. 

Others are frustrated by the lack of consistency in the debate rules.

Gidley said the campaigns he’s been in touch with were largely in agreement that they wouldn’t commit to stepping on stage until they signed off the rules first. 

As it stands, the candidates are informed of the rules after they’ve already committed to appear. 

However, an aide for Graham said they hadn’t agreed to any changes in process yet and would wait and see how Sunday’s meeting goes. 

Although Sunday’s meeting excludes party leaders, a source close to the RNC told The Hill that the party sees the meeting as a way for the campaigns forge common ground and tell the national group what they want so the party can advocate for them. 

While the editorial decisions, specifically debate questions, are up to the media organizations, the party has control over the logistics and ultimately whether the debate gets its blessing. 

On Friday, the RNC pulled out of partnering with NBC for a February debate, citing issues with Wednesday’s contest.