RNC Chief Wants Fewer GOP Debates

By Beth Reinhard  //  April 26, 2011 | 10:53 a.m.
Updated: April 26, 2011 | 11:16 a.m.

Reince Priebus

Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party are planning on holding a debate on May 5 despite a notably slow start to the 2012 presidential race, but count Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus among those who are unsure the debate will actually take place.

"I don't know," said Priebus Tuesday morning at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington when asked if the debate will take place as scheduled.

The slow start to the race has already caused a Politico/NBC News debate that was slated for early May to be pushed back to September. For his own part, Priebus said holding fewer debates -- and waiting a little longer to hold them -- is a better idea.

"I think fewer is better and perhaps waiting might be better as well," said Priebus. "But I'm going to leave that up to the candidates, new outlets and state parties to figure that out."

"The idea of twenty different forums and twenty different groups is a little much," Priebus said. "We need to have some order in our debate process," he continued.

Priebus said the RNC will try to replicate the process the Democratic National Committee created in 2008 in which the national party sanctioned a limited number of debates but didn't preclude candidates from particiapating in other debates.

Priebus also weighed in on the current dust-up over the presidential primary calendar. Florida's primary is currently slated for late January, which would place it ahead of other early state and would put it in violation of RNC rules. Priebus acknowledged that if Florida does move their primary, other states will adjust. "I'm sure if they stay in January, that all the other states will move up," he said. Priebus was also asked repeatedly about Donald Trump's persistent and erroneous questioning of the validity of President Obama's citizenship and said he believes that Obama was born Hawaii. But he did not chastise Trump for raising the issue. "I don't think it's an issue that moves voters," Priebus said. "It's an issue I don't personally get too excited about. I think it's being revived more by people in the media." "It's Donald Trump's right to get on TV to say what he wants to say, and it's up to voters to choose a nominee," he continued. -- Sean Sullivan contributed to this post

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