Well, the GOP Powers-That-Be have decided that there was just too much GOP crazy on display during the last round of primaries, so they've decided to cut back. I mean, if you stick cameras in front of your candidates too often, who knows what wacky stuff might come out of their mouths? People might actually learn something about the candidates and how they think (or fail to think) and what their actual beliefs are!
So, at the moment they've trimmed the schedule considerably when compared to the 2012 primary season -- now a mere 9 scheduled debates, compared to the 20 we were treated to that provided such hilarity and gave us such memorable soundbites (who can forget Perry's famous "Oops" line!). There is an option to add 3 more debates "if necessary", but yeah...who really expects that to happen?
Link to story on CNN:
RNC cuts primary debates down to 9; CNN to host up to 3