Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and businessman Herman Cain have agreed to participate in a Lincoln-Douglas style forum hosted by the Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC on November 5th, 2011. More candidates have been invited to the event, however, only Cain and Gingrich have confirmed so far. No word on a TV broadcast but I would hope maybe C-SPAN will pick it up.
Report from Star-Telegram:
AUSTIN, Texas โ Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain will meet in what’s being billed as a “Lincoln-Douglas-style” debate sponsored by a Texas tea party group.
Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC President Julie Turner says the Republican presidential candidates will meet Nov. 5 outside Houston for a “one-on-one conversation” on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held in-depth debates while competing for Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat in 1858.
Turner said Monday that Gingrich suggested the format after complaining that today’s traditional debates were “sound-bite boxing matches.” Her group knew Cain from his addressing a Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC event in April.
The group has contacted the campaigns of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to see if they would participate in a separate Lincoln-Douglas-style debate.
More details to come as they’re made available.