The head of the Republican National Committee advised candidates not to attend, because Trump still may declare a third-party candidacy, which makes him moderating a debate a direct conflict.
Look, there are lots of reasons why candidates should ignore this debate, but here's a solid one. Romney declined, citing scheduling conflicts with already planned campaigning activities. Trump's initial response was good, but now that only two candidates are attending and the rest have declined, Trump has decided to attack Romney!
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/198319-trump-romney-lacks-the-courage-to-participate-in-his-debate
"I’m disappointed that he didn’t seem to -- I don’t want to use the word courage -- but didn’t seem to have the courage to do the debate," Trump said of Romney on CNN's "The Situation Room," pointing to Romney's precarious situation position as a frontrunner in the polls.
Romney politely declines and Trump attacks him. With that as an example, can anybody actually believe that Trump would be a decent moderator for a Presidential debate? For heavens sake, he attacks anybody who doesn't do what he wants them to do!
So my advice to Gingrich and Santorum is to bail. The debate is mincemeat anyway with only two participants. It will be a waste of your time, and could well backfire on you, depending on what else Trump has to say about your non-participating opponents. The more he attacks, maligns, belittles, and smears them, the worse you look for attending the debate.
With only two folks scheduled at the debate, I don't expect it to happen. Trump's involvement ends up mostly as a joke in the end.
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