…Michael Graham: if it wasn’t for the GOP’s stupid debates, Rick Perry would be the nominee by now!

Or maybe Mitt Romney. Or even Tim Pawlenty. But not Herman Cain. Herman Cain would be the new Ron Paul – he’ll never win, but his supporters will never quit.

Graham writes:

…the ridiculous rise and inevitable fall of a third-rate candidate like Cain says very little about him but a whole lot about the screwed-up nomination process.

First, it shows how dumb and damaging the GOP’s decision to fight out the campaign on CNN/MSNBC has been. Turning the campaign season into a debate club helps friendly, facile candidates like Cain. A light quip here, a “9-9-9” there, and people start thinking “Hey, I like this guy!”

Picking a presidential nominee via TV debates is like picking a husband based on a one-night stand: Anyone can be good for two minutes.

Here’s my question: was it “the GOP’s decision?” The whole “debate-a-week” thing? Or was it simply a result of today’s umpteen-gazillion media outlets?

I mean, if I had a cable channel or a decent-sized grassroots political organization, I might have considered hosting a debate myself. Why not? Good press. Playing with the big boys! And girl. And there’s always news in a debate.

Best part: the candidates will show up.

The small-time and marginal candidates will show up, naturally, because they need all the face time they can get. They need something to launch them above small-time and marginal status.

The big-time, front-running candidates will show up because there’s more than one of them, and none of them can afford to let the others – much less any of the small-time, marginal candidates – steal the 24 hour news cycle.

I have no idea whether the national GOP approved this debate schedule or not. Regardless, I doubt they could have stopped it.