Summary: <p>Earlier this month, Ronna McDaniel, Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, wrote a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates—the independent, bipartisan organization that has convened<a href="https://www.debates.org/"> general election debates</a> since the 1980's. In her letter, McDaniel said that the RNC would boycott the presidential debates during the upcoming election cycle. That is – <em>unless</em> the commission was willing to meet its demands. The move is the latest refusal by Republicans to meet political norms. And it also poses the question: What – if anything – would be lost if the presidential debates didn’t happen? Brooke spoke to Alex Shephard, staff writer at <em>The New Republic </em>who's article on the subject was titled: <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/165031/rnc-boycott-presidential-debates-2024">“Let the Presidential Debates Die.”</a></p> <p> </p>
