Today it will be pretty much Meta Debate Day on the Sunday talkers. Not only does every show have at least one participant in this week’s GOP primary debate in their line-up, the two party chairs will make appearances on the talkers, too. GOP chair Reince Priebus has a two-fer, on This Week and Meet the Press, where he’ll cross paths with his counterpart Debbie Wasserman Schultz. On CBS, the Face the Nation roundtable will focus on debate prep, while a preceding panel will focus on campaign fundraising. One interesting note about these line-ups — with the exception of a Lester Holt pre-recorded exclusive with Jeb Bush, none of the front-runners are making an appearance, not even Donald Trump.
Those who want to focus on other topics will find mighty slim pickings. CBS has Sully Sullenberger to discuss the latest developments on the Malaysia Air 370 story … and that’s it. None of the talkers will focus on other stories, such as the national security disaster of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails or the Planned Parenthood controversies, even though the Senate will take up a defunding bill on Monday. Want to bet that George Stephanopoulos brings it up with Bernie Sanders? At least he won’t be talking about a Fox News debate … much.
Here are the lineups:
- ABC’s This Week: Sen. Bernie Sanders; Sen. Rick Santorum; RNC chair Reince Priebus ; roundtable with Maria Cardona, Speaker Newt Gingrich, Kristen Soltis Anderson, Cokie Roberts.
- CBS’ Face The Nation: Gov. Mike Huckabee; Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger; “money panel” of Julianna Goldman, Trevor Potter, Matea Gold, and Steven Law on campaign fundraising; roundtable with Molly Ball, Ron Fournier, Dan Balz, and Reihan Salam previewing the debate.
- CNN’s State of the Union: Gov. Chris Christie.
- Fox News Sunday: Gov. John Kasich; Gov. Rick Perry; roundtable with Karl Rove, Susan Page, Michael Needham, Juan Williams.
- NBC’s Meet the Press: RNC chair Reince Priebus; DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz; Dr. Ben Carson; Lester Holt’s one-on-one with Gov. Jeb Bush; roundtable with Gerald Seib, Kathleen Parker, Helene Cooper, Chris Matthews.
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