The GOP presidential candidates would be making a huge mistake in running away from their 9/17 CNN/YouTube debate. Just ask Big Brother.

(huge thanks to Chris R.)

Patrick Ruffini has set up a campaign site, Save the Debate. If you agree that the Republicans shouldn’t run away from this debate, head over there and make yourself heard.

And here’s a poll for our readers: Should the candidates attend the debate or not?

Everyone ought to keep this in mind.

Update: Wizbang’s Lorie Byrd:

Republicans should not be afraid to answer questions from a YouTube audience — even if some of them are a bit, er, loopy. They couldn’t be that much worse than some of the past debate moderators (Tinfoil Olbermann comes to mind).

Update: Save the Debate has an embeddable petition you can sign and send to others to encourage them to keep the GOP candidates in the debate.

Update: Robert Bluey reports that a date change may save the debate.