Breaking News: Dems cancel Dec. 10 LA debate

The Democratic National Committee announced this afternoon cancellation of next month's candidate debate on CBS-TV in Los Angeles.

"Due to the uncertainty created by the ongoing labor dispute between CBS and the Writers Guild of America," the statement said, "the DNC has canceled the Dec. 10 debate in Los Angeles. There are no plans to re-schedule."

This is a different labor dispute than the Hollywood writer's strike. On Nov. 20 CBS news writers, graphic artists and other staffers who work for the network's TV and radio news operations voted for a work stoppage after more than two years without a contract. The walkout could come at any time.

CBS has maintained that "the offer we presented nearly a year ago was fair and reasonable and remains on the table." But the mere threat of pickets was sufficient for the DNC to punt.

No one has been heard to complain about a shortage of presidential debates during 2007, but this nationally-televised confrontation on C-SPAN and some CBS affiliates would have come less than a month before the opening Iowa caucuses for both parties. And we could have seen Katie Couric try to moderate one of these political circuses.

Of course, CBS isn't the only network out there.....

--Andrew Malcolm