Do All the GOP Debates Matter?

If you tuned into the 258th GOP debate last night, you would have seen Mitt Romney on the offensive, needling his archrival Newt Gingrich on his role at Freddie Mac, immigration, and tax returns.

Sound familiar? The last several debates have featured so many similar heated exchanges between the two front-runners that the debate circuit is starting to look like re-runs of a tired TV show.

But despite the soap-opera-like antics of the candidates, the 19--the actual number--televised debates thus far have served a crucial and unique role in the current election race.

They've launched candidacies and ended them. They've propped up candidates with tight budgets. They've arguably played a greater role in determining the ultimate Republican challenger than any other event on the campaign trail.

"The debates have really become a focal point," says Dotty Lynch, director of American University's political communication program.

[Read: Mitt Romney's Debate Jujitsu Knocks Out Newt Gingrich.]

Back when Newt Gingrich was languishing in the polls and virtually staff-less after a mass resignation by key aides, debate appearances were one of the only vehicles he had to stay on the electorate's radar and get his message out. Debates did Herman Cain a favor, too, increasing his national name recognition and propelling him to a brief stint as the GOP front-runner. His 9-9-9 economic plan is now virtually a household phrase.

For others, the debates have been their undoing. Misstep after misstep in debate appearances torpedoed Rick Perry's candidacy, which went from the most promising anti-Romney operation to a national laughingstock in mere weeks. Michele Bachmann, too, failed in her navigation of the choppy debate waters and the surprising Ames straw poll victor called it quits after an equally surprising letdown in the Iowa caucuses.

Debates have also been an effective means of counterattacking for candidates short on cash. Experts blame Gingrich's collapse in Iowa to some extent on the barrage of negative ads Romney ran, many of which went unanswered by the Gingrich crew.

"[Gingrich] didn't have a debate forum to come back and counter the negative advertising," Lynch says.

[Check out editorial cartoons about Romney.]

But the debates haven't just been a chopping block for whittling down the cast of candidates. The televised events have been the primary way for voters to get to know the GOP challengers, and debates have consistently boasted viewership into the several millions. That's probably fueled the pace of the debates thus far as each network and primary location scrambles to put out its own version of a GOP candidate round-robin.

"You have a tremendous amount of press coverage [of the debates] in the 24/7 news cycle," Lynch says. "Where [Americans] have gotten a lot of their information about the candidates are the sound bites off the debates," as opposed to individual candidates' speeches and rallies.

A few more debates are already on the docket for February and March, but no one knows when the candidates will decide to pack it in and anoint their party presidential nominee. Usually when the money runs out, candidates throw in the towel, but nowadays with social media, billionaire benefactors, and a seemingly endless parade of debates, it's a new ballgame.

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mhandley@usnews.com

Twitter: @mmhandley