Is this Trump's "Ross Perot" moment?

[pellius]

This is not going over well for Trump. Like Perot, the "Flake/Unstable " factor is creeping in.

Cruz has renewed his offer of a separate debate to "give him a chance to bring his message to the people of Iowa". A venue has already been reserved.

Questions will be taken from the audience. He can choose one of the following to moderate the debate: Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, or Rush Limbaugh -- all Trump friendly.

And, if Trump participates in the debate with Cruz, 1.5 million will be donated to the veterans that Trump claims to support so much.

It's lose, lose, lose for Trump. If he changes his mind and shows up at the main debate and reneges on his public announcement he just seems like a flake and just a side show.

If he balks at Cruz's offer, which meets all the ideal conditions Trump want: short (one hour), audience participation, friendly moderators, donation to the veterans; then he seems disingenuous and afraid of Cruz. And a snub to the people of Iowa by turning down both opportunities.

If he accepts Cruz's offer then Cruz is running the show and Trump moves to the beta position. Also, Cruz is a skilled debater and I'm not sure Trump will fair well going one on one with Cruz.

My analysis may be flawed but I can't see this going well for Trump. If it does then the man is bullet proof and his ascension to the presidency only gets stronger.

[shiftedShapes]

This is not going over well for Trump. Like Perot, the "Flake/Unstable " factor is creeping in.

Cruz has renewed his offer of a separate debate to "give him a chance to bring his message to the people of Iowa". A venue has already been reserved.

Questions will be taken from the audience. He can choose one of the following to moderate the debate: Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, or Rush Limbaugh -- all Trump friendly.

And, if Trump participates in the debate with Cruz, 1.5 million will be donated to the veterans that Trump claims to support so much.

It's lose, lose, lose for Trump. If he changes his mind and shows up at the main debate and reneges on his public announcement he just seems like a flake and just a side show.

If he balks at Cruz's offer, which meets all the ideal conditions Trump want: short (one hour), audience participation, friendly moderators, donation to the veterans; then he seems disingenuous and afraid of Cruz. And a snub to the people of Iowa by turning down both opportunities.

If he accepts Cruz's offer then Cruz is running the show and Trump moves to the beta position. Also, Cruz is a skilled debater and I'm not sure Trump will fair well going one on one with Cruz.

My analysis may be flawed but I can't see this going well for Trump. If it does then the man is bullet proof and his ascension to the presidency only gets stronger.

your analysis is wrong. I could take a few paragraphs to explain it to you, but let's save the ink and just wait a week and see.

[240 is Back]

He doesn't like one of the moderators - so he's skipping a debate.

He only spoke 17 minutes of the last debate, despite being the frontrunner and targeted almost every time (and given time to respond each time).  He speaks slowly, uses small words, and steps in shit every time he has to give specifics or demonstrate deep knowledge (triad?)

Will he skip future debates to minimize the things he has to talk about?  Will he even bother showing up to debate Hilary?  He's shitting all over FOX, which has been on his sack.  He'll have no problem shitting on CNN, etc.

Is this just a strategy to minimize his exposure?

[Cal_Lifter]

This:

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/138125409321/trump-fox-news-and-megyn-kelly-explained-master

[Pneumothorax]

Actually I'm pretty sure this is calculated by Trump.  He's giving a big middle finger to Fox news, he's gonna get cheers from the left and the independent voters who hate Fox news.  He's having his own event on CNN a left leaning outlet so he can get his message out.  Basically he's already locked up the nomination, now he needs to focus on getting the independents and center left voters who are looking for any excuse not to vote for Hildog come November.

Nate Silver ‏@NateSilver538  Jan 26
Still not sure if Trump is the most brilliant political tactician of his era or just a guy randomly mashing buttons.

[SquidVicious]

Trump isn't the sharpest guy when it comes to improvising. He's not quick-witted and can't think well on his feet so a debate is really the worst possible place for him to be, especially when a super sharp guy like Ted Cruz is his nearest foe. As the front runner, Trump can dictate the terms of his media coverage and it's probably a smart move to pass, knowing that Megynocology and a Fox have it out for him.