McCain: A No Show

January 22, 2008
Read More: Republicans

Jonathon Martin

ABC debate falls through, Romney camp blames McCain


A debate between John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee that was to be held on ABC's "This Week" Sunday from Florida fell through after McCain declined to come to Miami for the proposed forum, a network source confirms.

The debate was to feature the three GOP candidates who have won either a primary or a caucus so far and would have been their final appearance before what could be a decisive contest on Tuesday.

"We tried to put something together from Miami, but Sen McCain's campaign said he had to be in Tampa," said an ABC source. "We couldn't do it from Tampa."

Romney's campaign seized on McCain's decision to not participate and claimed it was a sign of weakness -- insinuating that the candidate is trying to protect his lead.

"It appears they are concerned about the format and his ability to perform well in that setting," said spokesman Matt Rhoades.

But McCain's camp said it was a mere matter of logistics and that they are focused more on the central part of the state.

"Each candidate has a schedule in various parts of the state," said spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker. "McCain is scheduled to be in Tampa-St. Pete on Sunday, where he had previously agreed to do 'Meet the Press' and has other campaign stops.

"We agreed to the ABC debate, but we asked that they hold it in Tampa because of our previous commitments. ABC decided to go with separate interviews."

McCain will do "Meet the Press" live from Tampa on Sunday, according to the show's executive producer, Betsy Fischer.

The final debate between the GOP contenders in Florida will now take place on MSNBC Thursday night in Boca Raton.

A McCain aide noted that their participation in that forum as well as the Politico/CNN/LA Times debate in California on January 30th and said it was indicative of their willingness to debate Romney. Further, this source pointed out, Romney didn't commit to the original Univision and YouTube debates last fall -- debates they accepted.

The back and forth over debate participation is a reminder of the bad blood between the two camps and serves as a preview of the sort of sniping that will take off should the two finish at the top of Florida next Tuesday.