New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by “legendary” numbers. TRUMP 62%, 46 Points above DeSanctimonious (who is crashing like an ailing bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, “Aida” Hutchinson 1%. The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!

THE GOOD

Strategically, this is (mostly) a pretty smart move. 

Looking at Trump's campaign from the air, you can see instantly see his some peculiar things about it that other campaigns can't benefit from. Sure, he has his rallies, his posts on truth social, and various other types of promotion but Trump's strength isn't necessarily in his ability to campaign. 

The truth is that the left does all of that for him. 

As I wrote earlier this month, the Democrats and its media have got themselves in a death loop when it comes to Trump. Their policies have failed, their leadership continues to be an absolute disaster, and the man that sports the title of President of the United States is an octogenarian that can't seem to keep a cohesive thought in his head. He's clearly not trusted enough to talk to the press because he can hardly talk at all. 

There are only a few things they have that drive the needle leftward and one of those things is that they're the party of "not-Trump." So they make a show of waging relentless lawfare against him, and denounce him every chance they get. While this does give the rabid anti-Trump crowd something to get randy over, it also sends the message that they're terrified of the man and reinforces the feeling that Trump is a man outside the inner DC circle. 

They inadvertently paint Trump with a hero status in their quest to villainize him. As such, the GOP backs Trump by a wide majority in almost every poll that's taken. 

(READ: The Left Hasn't Figured Out That It's Trump's Best Friend)

Since the left can't stop attacking him, Trump gets all the free PR in the world, and on mainstream platforms. It's my honest opinion that he could literally do nothing and he'd still be just as popular because the left makes him so. 

If you're Trump, you're probably asking yourself what you have to gain from getting on stage with the likes of DeSantis, Ramaswamy, or even Pence. It risks too much. Even people polling at zero percent could get a lucky shot off that damages Trump's reputation in some way. Pence, in particular, could be a bit of a thorny issue given his status as Trump's former VP turned enemy. Even if it doesn't move Pence's needle one iota, he was still on the inside and he could give us a look behind the Trump Administration's curtain. 

Whatever you might think about it, skipping the debates is a sound tactical move. 

That said...

THE BAD

One of the ways that people came to love Trump was through the debate stage. He utterly laid waste to most of his GOP opponents and his debates against Hillary Clinton were replayed ad nauseum well into his presidency. While I can't say his first debate against Joe Biden was overly impressive, his second one was actually pretty solid. 

Trump's fans have always touted his debating skills so he wouldn't have an issue wiping the floor with any of the GOP candidates going up against him...right? Why not take the opportunity to put any doubt about his supremacy to rest and get on the stage? If his ideas are indeed the best ideas then why not let them shine against the candidates so we all get a good idea where everyone stands? 

It's hard for me to make the argument that Trump isn't at least a little worried about the outcome of these debates. The truth is that DeSantis is a strong, capable leader with an excellent and undeniable track record. Ramaswamy is unproven in the political sphere but he's articulate and well-spoken. Again, while Pence has a snowball's chance of winning, he was close to Trump and he doubtless has verbal bullets with Trump's name on them. There's a lot that could go wrong with people like these on the stage. 

If Trump is fully capable of holding his own, he should be able to give as well as he gets, but the fact that he's shrugging off these debates doesn't exactly give off an air of confidence. 

Moreover, it's not like he's going to go completely unmentioned on that stage. The attacks will still come, he just won't be able to defend himself in the moment. He'll wait till after the fact to return fire amongst a friendly rally crowd and Truth Social posts, but that's not 100% foolproof. Those moments on the stage will circle the world 100 times before the general public sees Trump's Truth Social response. If you're not on Truth Social or X, you might never see his response, and that attack will linger unopposed. 

THE UGLY

Trump risks a lot here. Whether he's there or he's not, Trump will be forced to debate, and the response will either be seen or it won't with the latter being the higher probably for most Americans. While the majority of the GOP supports him, Independents are still going to have a hard time deciding, and this will only make it harder. 

This could bite the GOP in the rear during the general should Trump win the nomination. He'll have a hell of a lot to defend himself against from previous comments from GOP candidates on top of whatever he's having to fight Democrats with. It just makes his job harder.

Skipping the debate is, in the short term, a really smart strategy, but in the long term, it could prove troublesome, and possibly destructive. 

Moreover, the GOP rightfully pointed out that debates were important for the understanding and knowledge about candidates for the sake of the voters when the DNC announced there would be no debates as Joe Biden is their guy. Yet, here Trump is skipping the debates as well. 

If it applies to Biden, it applies to Trump. Hypocrisy looks good on no one, including the GOP.

It could be that Trump will only skip one or two debates and he will turn up if things get a little too hot due to his absence. Truth be told, I think there are too many debates anyway. Skipping one or two isn't really an issue, however, Trump would be wise to at least show up to one or two and prove himself to voters both in and out of the GOP. If he's going to earn people's votes, he should at least give voters something substantial.