Gene Policinski: Trump, Fox, Kelly and the history, hype and hope of debates

  What’s going on with presidential primary debates?

  And I don’t mean the latest issue many will think of first: The flap between Fox News and GOP front-runner Donald Trump over Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly.

  Granted, the discussion over which journalists will or will not get to ask questions in televised debates generally plays out behind closed doors — in talks between campaign officials and debate sponsors — not in the Twittersphere and in the nightly news.

  Rather, the observation that should catch the attention of First Amendment advocates is Trump’s view of the purpose behind this last Republican debate before the Iowa primary, apparently shared by many, that the point of the exercise is television ratings and network profits.