Republican Party could skip traditional U.S. presidential debates
WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Republican Party on Thursday said its future presidential candidates might not participate in debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates due to concerns about fairness, upending decades of tradition. In a letter to the nonprofit commission known as the CPD, which has run presidential debates since 1988, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the party was considering amending its rules to ensure its candidates do not attend the debates because of concerns about "whether the CPD credibly can provide a fair and impartial forum for presidential debates." She said the party would try to help future Republican presidential nominees participate in debates that are organized more fairly. It is unclear what format those debates would take or whether they would take place as often as in recent decades. Prior to the debate commission's founding in 1987, political parties or campaigns negotiated directly on t