Rick Perry May Skip Some Of Remaining GOP Presidential Debates

Texas Governor Rick Perry's presidential campaign appeared to suggest on Wednesday that he might skip out on some of the remaining Republican debates.

With the GOP primary debate season less than halfway over -- and the top candidates already having logged eight appearances -- Perry communications director Ray Sullivan appeared on CNN and argued that it was ridiculous to expect the contenders to take to the stage so many times over the next few months.

"We're about 60 days away from votes being cast," Sullivan said. "The candidates need to spend time in Iowa doing those town halls and spending a lot more time with the voters, who oftentimes have the best questions and press the candidates the hardest."

Though the schedule is constantly changing, there are somewhere around 14 debates on the calendar between November and March.

"There's no way that the candidates can do all those debates," Sullivan said, before confirming that Perry would at least take part in the next debate, slated to take place at Oakland University in Michigan on November 9.

(Video via CNN below)

Perry presaged his campaign's reluctance to embrace the rigorous debate schedule earlier this week on Fox News, when he described partaking in the events as a "mistake."

"All they're interested in is stirring up between the candidates instead of really talking about the issues that are important to the American people," Perry claimed.

Perry has taken a beating in the media for his debate performances, a response that has largely been reflected in recent polling figures.

But the issue of avoiding debates isn't a new one for Perry. During his reelection campaign for Texas governor in 2010, he flat out refused to share the stage with Democratic challenger Bill White. Perry's blanket hold on debates brought repeated protests, including by demonstrators who repeatedly attacked the governor as a "chicken."

Comments

[l78lancer]

02:14 AM on 10/29/2011

" "There's no way that the candidates can do all those debates..." "

He got in late and he'll probably be leaving early. Who do they think they are fooling? Guess what, Rick...life really is different outside of Texas.

[UncleBunny]

04:15 PM on 10/28/2011

When the going gets tough, the dumb get gone.

[oldgeek1]

02:59 PM on 10/28/2011

Why can't they just continue to send money and vote for me? This reading and answering questions stuff is just too much work.

[Hillbilly49]

02:51 PM on 10/28/2011

Brother Rickie, If you can't stand up to Shellie the Yak Woman, Pizza Dude and Wall Street Willard; how can you stand up to the terrorists?

[Matt12]

02:38 PM on 10/28/2011

If a little challenge like a run of the mill pedantic debate scares him so much, can anyone imagine what the North Koreans or Iranians or the Russians or the Chinese would do to him? He clearly can't take the heat, so humbly he should retreat to Texas and keep his finger away from the death penalty (oops!) button -- he does not seem to have the ability to reflect on difficult issues, or anything else for that matter!

[Dick Blackwood]

02:24 PM on 10/28/2011

Rumblin', Stumblin', Bumblin' Rick Perry. It's no surprise he performs worse when the lights are the brightest and when those outside the state of Texas see you for what you are. The back slapping, good ole' boy, Texas political machine can't spin you out of the malaise that is your inability to connect the dots on policy, world affairs, and your would be direction for our country. As a resident of Texas it's important to add that my TALENT and ability to articulate it created my job, not your policies!

[phoebequeen]

01:54 PM on 10/28/2011

Do they really think we are buying this?

[l78lancer]

02:08 AM on 10/29/2011

Unfortunately they believe their own lies.

[Stephen Stafford]

01:44 PM on 10/28/2011

I am enjoying this so much I should be ashamed. Just the other minute, some American magpies were saying they could not stand to hear the President talk. All that talking and informing and making sense to the People had this crew absolutely incensed. And he still had the nerve to use a teleprompter!!!

So they searched far and wide to find the kind of white man they could stand to look at and hear him talk. The white part is relevant. In this vast, diverse nation, full of all kinds of people with all kinds of skills, have you heard a single person considered by these folks who is not a white male?

One man stood out, stood tall, stood for all they are about. He went through the motions, pantomining like he had some decision to make when he had been dreaming of being King of Something all along. Did you think he would go to the trouble of seceding to set up another tired democracy, and run the risk of being brutalized?

So this is what those people wanted. They have not been responsible enough to stand up and say they made a mistake, so we must assume this is what they wanted for America.

I encourage all of you to have a special word with your relatives, neighbors and friends who told you this guy was the one. A very special word, and then show them how they would be treated in Texas.

[phoebequeen]

01:53 PM on 10/28/2011

Well said as always.

[Left Hook]

01:33 PM on 10/28/2011

Sure didn't take Perry long to start makin' those cluckin' sounds did it...

[l78lancer]

02:16 AM on 10/29/2011

Acts like a chicken...looks like a turkey.

[Jesster]

03:05 AM on 10/29/2011

And quacks like a duck.

[zatonoichi]

01:19 PM on 10/28/2011

As for intellectual gravitas, not one of these buffoons burns brighter than a small candle. I think it's a stretch to call these events "debates". It's more like a bunch of fifth graders having farting contests.

[Left Hook]

01:12 PM on 10/28/2011

It was obvious by the eggs he has been layin' in the debates and elsewhere that sooner or later you would him him cluck-cluck-clucking his way out of the debates...Is balin' when people sniff out what this hollow rube of a west Texas dirt farmin' cowboy would do? You betcha!

[StopMakingSense2]

01:10 PM on 10/28/2011

I made a mistake... I opened my mouth!

[Harpseal60]

01:02 PM on 10/28/2011

Yeah, this is just what the country needs in a President....when things get tough, hide in a hole somewhere so you don't have to deal with the hard stuff...Way to lead, ya putz!

[mataylor16]

12:52 PM on 10/28/2011

They'd all do well to skip the remaining debates. Why rehash the same old dog and pony show over and over again, each time eclipsing the previous standard for ridiculousness?

[Iamthx1138]

12:20 PM on 10/28/2011

Does backing out of all future debates signify that Perry is too stupid to ever be adequately prepared for them? Or that he is simply too lazy?

[StopMakingSense2]

01:10 PM on 10/28/2011

He's as empty as Texas is big..

[zatonoichi]

01:21 PM on 10/28/2011

Stupid AND lazy. And despite all the Texas swagger, he's a cowardly wimp as well. He's got all the qualifications the republicans are looking for.