The beginning of the next ‘08 presidential campaign trend?
If there’s one thing I can say about Barack Obama, it’s that he’s a trend-setter. The second (Edwards was first with that pathetic pandering plea from New Orleans that was over-shadowned by Gerald Ford’s death) of the top-tier candidates to officially announce that he would soon announce his candidacy for higher office 
(remember the “surprise” online announcement) Obama started this over the top early campaign way back in January.
Just as he got the ball rolling this year, Obama may be setting the template for the rest of the campaign front-runners in the pre-primary season by announcing today that he will forgo accepting any more invitations for upcoming debates this fall. His campaign may have wisely recognized that the more often he gets on the stage with second tier candidates who can take shots at him, Hillary Clinton who makes him look unqualified and John Edwards who’s got an idea for everything - the more ground he stands to lose.
Look for this announcement to impact the list of invitees to the upcoming CPC’s (Competitive Press Conferences) to which the Obama campaign has already committed - perhaps some folks will be disinvited so that the viable candidates will have a real opporunity for discussion.
