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What’s up with the USF debate?

Posted Jan 20, 2012 by William March

Updated Jan 20, 2012 at 04:00 PM

Uncertainty appears to be increasing around the University of South Florida presisdential candidates debate scheduled for Monday night.

First, Mitt Romney refused to commit to participate in the debate. He’s not saying he won’t be there; he’s just declining to promise he will.

Now there’s a mystery about whether the debate will be broadcast as planned on NBC during prime time Monday night. The network has just changed its listings for 9-11 p.m. Monday, the time slot for the debate, to include Fear Factor and another hour-long show instead.

NBC wouldn’t say Thursday whether it had a commitment from Romney to participate, but promised a statement today.

The statement, issued about noon from network spokeswoman Erika Masonhall, said simply,  “Preparations for the NBC News, National Journal, Tampa Bay Times debate continue. We fully intend to proceed with this long-planned event and we hope and expect all the qualifying candidates will participate.”

Does this mean the debate won’t be televised on NBC during prime time? Maybe taped for another time slot? Maybe aired on MSNBC rather than NBC? Outright cancellation seems unlikely. We’re still waiting for further word from the network.

At least one of the sponsors, the Tampa Bay Times, isn’t suggesting anything amiss. Shortly before 2 p.m., it posted a blog item inviting readers offering a live stream of the debate and fact-checking tweets.