Democrats Scuttle Final Debate

What a convenient excuse.

A televised debate set for next month among the Democratic presidential candidates was canceled on Wednesday due to a labor dispute between Hollywood studios and striking screenwriters, organizers said.

The decision by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) came after several candidates said they would not cross picket lines of the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike against major film and television studios since November 5.

All eight Democrats running for the White House originally had agreed to take part in a debate scheduled for December 10 at the CBS Television City studio in Los Angeles, where striking writers have been picketing.

The canceled event would have been the last DNC-sanctioned debate before the January 3 Iowa caucuses, the first of the state-by-state contests to determine which Republican and Democrat will face off in the November 4, 2008, general election.

Of course, they could always go somewhere they could reach an audience like, say, the Fox News Channel.

Though that would mean they'd have to answer a difficult question or two.

Can't have that.