Perry May Skip Some Debates

Probably a good idea given that his debate performances have been shaky at best:

After a series of poor debate performances in the early months of his presidential campaign, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is backing off the upcoming GOP debate schedule, committing to just one of the next three events between now and Nov. 15.

Perry has struggled in the five debates he has attended since he joined the race in mid-August. At one, he fumbled an attempt to cast rival Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper. At another, bickering between Romney and Perry drew criticism that the candidates were acting juvenile.

Perry hinted at his frustration with the debates earlier this week when he told Fox News that participating in them was a “mistake.”

“These debates are set up for nothing more than to tear down the candidates,” Perry said. “…All they’re interested in is stirring it up between the candidates.”

Although this is probably a good idea, Perry will become the subject of the first debate he misses and everything will be directed towards making him look weak.

I can certainly understand why Republicans should want to skip debates moderated by lefty media outlets that seem determined to generate quotes designed to help Democrats. When they get questions about creationism, abortion, Obama's birth certificate, and other nonsense it's clear the media's only interest in their answers is to what extent those answers will be helpful to Obama.

Unfortunately, this probably won't help Perry in the eyes of the voters.