Too Many Presidential Debates

I am wondering whether anyone else is picking up on the same thing: aren't there way too many Republican presidential debates? I'm not saying this because I am anti-Republican: I thought the same about the Democratic campaign against Bush in 2003-2004. To me, all these debates seem to accomplish is give the other party (this time it's the Democrats) ammunition to use in the general election whenever a candidate commits a gaffe (which sometimes happens several times in a single debate). Also, if the Republicans are really serious about regaining the White House in the 2012 election, then these debates are also counterproductive in that they force the candidates to play up to the more extreme conservative elements in the party. Instead, the candidates should be demonstrating to the nation that they are reasonable leaders with the country's greater interests at heart, not just towing some narrow ideological line that has little broad appeal to the electorate.

Perhaps the reason we are currently experiencing so many debates is something that I have alluded to in some previous articles: Americans seem to have some serious issues with their attention spans and memories. Or at least enough of them do to potentially effect the outcome of close elections. Maybe the GOP organizers see this, too, and feel that only with these continuing debates can they keep the campaign (and their candidates) in the public eye before that public quickly forgets about them!