Ron Paul gets the Libertarian Debate Treatment?

[Borodog]

So apparently Romney will not participate in the CNN-YouTube sponsored GOP debate, because it is beneath his dignity, and Giuliani has just announced that he won't participate either, supposedly because of a "scheduling conflict."

To a formerly very active former Big L Libertarian, it's obvious what is going on. The front-runners got burned by the inclusion of Ron Paul; his exchange with Giuliani, far from sending him into oblivion, increased his media profile and coverage of him ten fold. What're the front-runners to do?

Refuse to attend debates where the Libertarian, I mean, Dr. Paul, is invited, that's what. Since they know that the debates are a money-making enterprize for the sponsors, and that the sponsors believe (probably rightly) that many fewer people will tune into a debate with no "big names", they can effectively shut down any real debate where they would have to actually face a Libertarian, I mean, Ron Paul, or simply pressure the sponsor behind the scenes to exclude the underdog.

The anti-Paul contngent will pop up in this thread and call me paranoid, call it a conspiracy theory, etc. But I saw this over and over and over again when I was actually involved in Libertarian politics and running for office, at all levels. It was blatant and open. "You want to sponsor a debate? Great! Oh, you're inviting the Libertarian? In that case, we won't be attending." This was one of the first factors that opened my eyes to the fact that the whole process was a sham.