Thread: John McCain: only Republican to do a debate in Spanish

John McCain agreed to do a Univision debate. I got this from steinreport



John McCain is the only GOP contender to accept an invitation to a presidential debate broadcast from UM.

Posted on Thu, Aug. 02, 2007Digg it del.icio.us reprint or license print email
BY BETH REINHARD
breinhard@MiamiHerald.com
If you bill it, will they come?

Six debates are being promoted in Florida before the Jan. 29 presidential primary, a record-setting number of chances for the state to play host to would-be occupants of the White House and all the national media that come with them.

Whether the candidates will show remains to be seen.

On Wednesday, John McCain became the first and only Republican to agree to a Sept. 16 debate broadcast live by the Univisión TV network from the University of Miami. The other leading candidates say they're mulling it over, along with the YouTube-CNN forum planned for the following day in St. Petersburg.

''It devolves into a game of presidential chicken where you're trying to figure out what the other guy is going to do,'' said GOP strategist David Johnson, who is not affiliated with any of the campaigns. 'The candidates have to ask themselves: `Do I want to debate that many times? If the date is pushed back, will the debate be more manageable than a football team because some of the others will drop out?' ''

The last GOP presidential primary debate in Florida was in 1995, on the eve of the party's straw poll in Orlando. The Democratic contenders faced off in Miami in 1987 and 1991.

This year, the GOP candidates are invited to the back-to-back debates in Miami and St. Petersburg, as well as to nationally televised forums in Orlando and Tallahassee. The Democrats are slated to face off in Miami and Tallahassee.

A new law bumped Florida's primary from mid-March to Jan. 29, making it the first big state to weigh in.

``These debates really signal Florida's arrival as a

major venue for the presidential campaign,'' said Ron Sachs, past chairman of Leadership Florida, which is co-hosting the Tallahassee debates.

Sachs said he expects all the major candidates to attend, though none have confirmed they are coming.

''It's not in their nature to commit five months in advance,'' he said.

They do play it cool. Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have each paid $100,000 to attend the Florida GOP's convention in Orlando, but neither has officially committed to attend the debate that will be the centerpiece.

The Miami debates on Sept. 9 and 16 will be the first presidential forums conducted in Spanish, with questions simultaneously translated into English.

''I look forward to communicating with Hispanic voters nationwide in this unique discussion of issues,'' McCain said in a written statement.

To detractors, the Arizona senator has nothing to lose. He's down in the polls and practically broke.

To supporters, McCain has everything to gain. Univisión is the nation's fifth-largest TV network and the most popular Spanish-language outlet. Immigration is bound to be at the forefront of the debate, and McCain was the only GOP candidate who championed revisions.

''I think John McCain is again showing his courage and his willingness to express views that may not be popular with his conservative base,'' said Miami political consultant Carlos Curbelo, who worked for McCain before layoffs.

On the Democratic side, only New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd have agreed to appear at the Univisión debate. Hillary Clinton has said she plans to attend only the six debates sanctioned by the party between July and January.

Julio Rumbaut, a Hispanic media consultant in Miami, said: ``It would behoove any candidate to take advantage of the opportunity, because if they don't, another candidate will.''

To detractors, the Arizona senator has nothing to lose. He's down in the polls and practically broke.

Yep, he's toast!

Desperate.

You know, it has seemed to me for a long time that John McCain is just wound a little too tight -

Bet he knows how to speak Spanish!

DESPERATE is right. He's stooping now to get the "illegal" votes.

He is so pathetic. He saw himself as president and now he just can't give it up!

any canidate who does that debate in spanish will NOT get my vote!

That bears repeating...Any candidate who does that debate in spanish
will not get my vote!!

I guess that's the last shovel of dirt on his grave. What an a-hole.