Only Ron Paul and John McCain Guaranteed for CNN/YouTube DebateIt's already being called a big success yet it appears the majority of Republican US Presidential candidates are thumbing their noses at the CNN/YouTube debate, with the notable exceptions of Ron Paul and John McCain.
"They could be making a huge mistake," commented Gambling911.com's Carrie Stroup, who has been monitoring 2008 US Presidential odds and betting trends. "The YouTube Debate is being perceived as a format created by the American people. All the Democratic hopefuls attended. Failure to attend could be damaging to the absent candidates."
And rewarding to both Paul and McCain. Ron Paul has a very strong Internet following while McCain could gain some of the ground back that he has lost in recent months.
Ron Paul was listed with odds of 15 to 1 of becoming the next US President while John McCain was at 5 to 1 odds.
"This is really shocking news," related Stroup. "We are seeing momentum shift back in favor of McCain in recent weeks while Paul continues to amass more support."
Headlines have already incorporated the concept of "Republican Candidates too Good for YouTube". YouTube is among the top five most viewed websites. The headlines could effectively read "Republicans too Good for Debate Created by the American People".
If polls are indicative of a candidates chances to win, so too would television ratings demonstrate the interest in a particular debate forum.
Monday’s debate, held in Charleston, S.C., did draw what CNN said was the biggest audience since measurements began in 1992 for a cable news debate of those between 18 and 34, the demographic most coveted by advertisers.
“This was the largest youngest audience cable news has ever had for a debate,” said Carolyn Disbrow, a spokeswoman for CNN.
Although Ron Paul and John McCain are the only committed candidates showing up, only one Republican has flat out declined, Rudy Guiliani.
In an interview with CBS4 commentator Jim DeFede scheduled to be aired on the "Jim Defede Show" on Monday, Rudy Guiliani said he was not informed by his campaign staff about CNN about the debate, and that the date chosen by CNN unilaterally conflicted with a number of other campaign appearances. Guiliani was the 3 to 1 favorite to become the next US President at press time.
On the fence about attending the debate is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney whose staff says they already have more than half a dozen debate invitations over an 11 day period in September.
Representative Tom Tancredo, whose campaign regularly posts videos to YouTube, has not said whether he will attend.
More than 400 questions for the GOP candidates have already been submitted to YouTube from its legion of online contributors.
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com
Originally published July 27, 2007 7:04 pm ET
