Donald Trump to moderate GOP debate. But what if nobody shows up?

"It's going to be a giant ego trip, and anybody who thinks that Donald Trump is going to be the equivalent of [Fox News host] Bret Baier or any of the other moderators we've had is kidding themselves," Republican strategist Karl Rove said earlier this week

Sen. John McCain, his party’s nominee in 2008, wonders why any of today’s presidential hopefuls would appear on an “obscure network.” (Conservative media organization Newsmax is based in West Palm Beach, Fla.)

“I think they should be resting up over Christmas and the next few days and be ready to go right after the first of January,” Senator McCain said on Fox News.

In her column Friday, conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin doesn’t hold back.

“We’ve seen the unseemly parade of Republican presidential candidates trekking to visit Donald Trump, perhaps in search of an endorsement or maybe out of fear he’d attack if they didn’t kiss the ring,” she writes. “But with the exception of Newt Gingrich, whose radar isn’t attuned to spot trouble from a raving egomaniac with eccentric views, virtually all of the Republican field and the party has gotten the message that Trump is bad news.”

Not Rick Santorum.

“Many of my opponents jockeyed to be the first to fly up to New York and use Donald Trump for a photo op and no doubt try and secure an endorsement,” he told Politico.com. “But when Donald wants to moderate a debate – they refuse to attend. That’s what’s so wrong with politics today – hypocrisy.”

For its part, Newsmax is playing up the conservative organizations and individuals that have endorsed its debate: Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, Fox News host Sean Hannity, Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, and the Tea Party Express.

Oh, and Sarah Palin. Remember her?

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