Favored GOP Candidates Skip First Presidential Debate

The Takeaway

The first Republican Presidential Debate is tonight in Greenville, South Carolina.  But few of the GOP’s leading contenders will be there. Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are all opting out of the debate. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley warned that Republican candidates who ignore South Carolina do so at their own peril. “Anyone that discounts South Carolina is making a huge mistake,” Governor Haley told Fox News. For more on what this means for the Republican Party’s presidential prospects, we turn to Ron Christie, CEO of Republican Christie Strategies and the author of  “Acting White: The Curious History of a Racial Slur.”
Mark Quinn, host of SCETV’s “The Big Picture,” will be attending the debate.

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