When steam dissipates, you're left with nothing

'The Great Donald Trump Debate (well, maybe slightly less great than its organizers had hoped) is still going forward even with just two committed candidates, its organizers said Friday'.

“We just had a production meeting this morning, and we’re pushing full steam ahead,” said Steve Coz, editorial director of Newsmax Media, which is hosting the debate Mr. Trump is set to moderate on Ion Television on Dec. 27'.

'But Mr. Trump, the reality star and real estate mogul, cast some doubt Friday about whether the debate would still happen in an interview with Fox News’s Megyn Kelly. “We’ll have to see,” he said. He made similar comments to Don Imus earlier in the day'.

'Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman did not return a request to clarify his remarks.

'Whatever the outcome, the incident is a body blow to Mr. Trump’s credibility as a player in conservative politics. He often talks up his political influence with the kind of self-aggrandizing swagger that is his trademark'.

'On Mitt Romney‘s supposed longing for Mr. Trump’s endorsement: “He wants my endorsement. He wants it very badly,” Mr. Trump said this week'.

'On his frustration about never being invited to the White House by President Obama: “I have a big voice. Call up Trump, invite him to the White House. Get him on your side.”

'On why he thinks he has influence: “The candidates look at me and they say, ‘He really does have a lot of people who are listening.’”

'Evidently, the campaigns of Mr. Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann and Jon M. Huntsman Jr. — who have all declined to attend the debate — don’t quite see it that way'.
From : http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/newsmax-says-trump-debate-is-full-steam-ahead/
.