Keller @ Large: Trump Will Be At Fox News Debate
BOSTON (CBS) - I have a shocking confession to make - my analysis, while always sincere, doesn't always turn out to be right.
I know what you're thinking, it's hard to believe, but it's true.
In fact, I predicted last summer that the Donald Trump boomlet would not survive the fall, and said I would eat my script if I were wrong. Even mixed with a nice salad and some tangy Caesar dressing, that was not a tasty lunch.
I now have another prediction to make that might also turn out to be wrong, but is based on my experience with both politics and human nature - in spite of his promise Tuesday night to skip Thursday night's nationally-televised GOP debate after a spat with the debate organizer, Fox News, Trump will in fact be there.
As we pointed out Tuesday night on the 11 o'clock news, almost immediately after cancelling out of the debate in a huff, Trump was softening his anti-Fox rhetoric. This leaves the door open for the network to back down a bit as well.
Watch for some conciliatory rhetoric, and a dramatic, 11th-hour decision by Trump to show up after all. They get their astronomical ratings; he gets the news-cycle dominance he wants through Thursday, at least.
Everyone comes out a winner except poor, forgotten Ted Cruz.
Sorry Ted; you're playing checkers, Trump is playing chess.
I could be wrong about this, and I'm sure I'll hear about it from you if I am. But I've learned my lesson about Trump.
Everything he does is with a purpose, and yielding the debate to his competitors doesn't advance his agenda. We're watching a master showman at work, don't forget - for better, or for worse.