The first of what will probably be several televised debates between GOP Senate candidates Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio may take place next month on Fox News Sunday, moderated by Chris Wallace.
Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Silva (formerly with the Orlando Sentinel) reports that Rubio has already agreed to the debate, but Crist has not.
Last fall, when Rubio was desperately trying to reach some parity with the guv, he was already calling for debates. It made little sense for Crist to accept the invitations at the time. Not only was he up by a prodigious margin (leading the former House Speaker by some 29 points), but the election was nearly a year away.
Now it's creeping closer, and if the latest Rasmussen survey is to be taken seriously, it is Crist who is now the underdog. So what would Charlie gain by not debating Rubio as soon as possible? We'll update when we hear back from the Governor.
This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2010.