Hardly unique to Republicans, though. The Debate Commission had to pay a
settlement after barring Nader from sitting in the audience at the 2000 debates (in a separate room).
I DO think the GOP's being rather foolish in snubbing Paul and his fans, and it's a hell of a mixed message considering that picking Paul Ryan is largely a concession to that wing of the party.
I still think Libertarian-leaning, Paul-supporting youth represent the future of the Republican Party, but obviously the party's more united than most of us expected when we started this thread 4 years ago. Palin herself is as unpopular as she's ever been but her fringe lunacy is alive and well in the Republican Party, and moderate and Libertarian-leaning Republicans, while perhaps increasingly nervous about it, aren't exactly fleeing the party in droves.
We also overestimated how much Obama was going to function as a uniting force; Fox News has been damned effective in demonizing him, and he's proven a hell of a lot less competent at defending his image than the '08 campaign suggested. (I can't help wondering how much of that was really him and how much was Howard Dean.)
I still think there's a big storm brewing in the GOP, but the disparate factions (plutocrat/hawk/fundie) seem to be uniting pretty well this election. It might not be enough to win the White House and probably won't win the Senate; we'll see.
I think we'll see them getting along better if Romney wins and squabbling more if he loses, but I also don't see any kind of major split in the party coming between now and 2016, nor any decisive defeat coming in '14.
But what the fuck, it's all tea leaves. What do I know?