First GOP Presidential Debate Cancelled

The first GOP presidential debate set for early May has been canceled due to lack of interest...from candidates.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation announced that it's moving its "Reagan Centennial GOP Presidential Primary Candidates Debate" from May 2 to Sept. 14, 2011. The reason? Not enough big names have declared their candidacy, and therefore the foundation is struggling to secure participation.

"Although there will be a long and impressive list of Republican candidates who eventually take the field, too few have made the commitment thus far for a debate to be worthwhile in early May," said John Heubusch, executive director for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, in a statement. "The Reagan Foundation's first Republican presidential primary debate will move to the fall, allowing enough time for the full slate of candidates to participate."

Politico, NBC, and Telemundo are also sponsoring the foundation's debate.

The first debate of the presidential season now belongs to Fox, which is sponsoring one on May 5 in South Carolina.