Familiarity Breeds Contempt? Too Many (R) Debates?

Does familiarity breed contempt?  That might be being called into consideration by the Weekly Standard as the Republicans churn through debate after debate more than a year ahead of the presidential election.  Fred Barnes says all the exposure is exposing weakness to the opposition.

Our friends at Launch Radio Radio Networks pick up the report...

If you've been following the contest for the Republican presidential nomination, you know that there's been a lot of debates, with the seventh televised one held last night and another 13 events planned. Yahoo! blog The Ticket says that, to a greater extent than usual, the GOP primary debates have been influencing expectations about the candidates, with several rising or falling largely on how they've been performing in them. Rep. Michele Bachmann and businessman Herman Cain, for example, have both had rises in the polls fueled by their debate performances -- although Bachmann has since faded -- while Texas Governor Rick Perry, who was viewed as the big conservative alternate to Mitt Romney, has been struggling after bad debate performances. Some conservatives are now asking if having all these debates is such a good idea.

The Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes, writing in the Wall Street Journal, said the biggest, and perhaps most damaging, impact of the debates this year has been to prolong the lifespan of marginal candidates who have no chance of actually winning the nomination. He also said the slew of debates gives President Obama's re-election campaign an early look at the vulnerabilities and strengths of the GOP candidates, which could hurt the eventual nominee.

 Barnes wrote, "All Mr. Obama has to do is sit back and enjoy the show.