Realistically speaking, some candidates would naturally make the decision to avoid the Trump debate for that very reason, but Trump seems to think the other candidates are afraid of him, and this was the topic of discussion on tonight’s Hannity. Sean Hannity discussed the Donald’s influence in the Republican party with Democratic strategist Kirsten Powers and Republican strategist Kevin Madden.

RELATED: Andrew Breitbart: Why Would GOP Candidates Go On MSNBC, But Turn Down Trump?

Hannity wondered why any candidate polling poorly would avoid an invitation to such a high-profile event, given that any airtime is good exposure for these candidates. (Long-shot candidate Buddy Roemer has, in fact, publicly asked Trump to participate in the debate.) Powers found it hard to just accept that Trump suddenly became the Jeff Probst of the Republican party.

“I don’t understand how Donald Trump suddenly became this kingmaker in the Republican party. I’m a little puzzled by it, and I… ’cause it makes total sense to me that Republicans are saying no to him. And even this idea that people now go up to see Donald Trump to kiss his ring, I just… I don’t know, it’s just puzzling.”

Hannity countered that when Trump briefly “entered” the race, he was polling well. Yes, and Breaking Dawn: Part One broke box office records, it’s still a crappy Twilight movie. What other strong metric does Trump have going for him, according to Hannity? He’s a harsh Obama critic. Powers didn’t buy this explanation, pointing out the Obama administration has plenty of critics who aren’t wealthy megalomaniacs.

RELATED: Rosie O’Donnell On Donald Trump: He’s The ‘Perfect Choice’ To Moderate A GOP Debate

Madden, meanwhile, argued that one of the problems with having Trump host a debate would be that the Donald would gravitate towards the center of attention, as is his modus operandi. He expressed concerns that such a distraction would take away from the candidates’ efforts in early primary states. Madden also made the obvious observation that Trump is most likely not going to run for president as an independent, but says it as often as possible in order to garner the media’s attention.

Watch the video below, courtesy of Fox News:

Baldwin then went on to point out that the health care bill failed to get one Republican vote, which he seemed to la at the feet of the Obama Administration. He then went on to rhetorically ask how, what he called a “broken government” could fix “broken health care system.”

Baldwin was joined by Kevin Madden, spokesman and senior advisor for Mitt Romney in his 2008 presidential bid, Marc Lamont Hill, professor at Columbia University, and actor and comedienne, Aisha Tyler, and was initially asked if he was offended by Vice President Joe Biden‘s f-bomb. “Well, you know Larry, the bible says that out of the mouth comes the things that are in our heart, so I’m not surprised by Vice President’s potty mouth.”

Later in the segment Madden rebuked Baldwin, and took the high road, claiming that he was not interested in calling his opponents names. Lamont Hill also said that it was intellectually dishonest to claim, as Baldwin did, that 50% of American’s are unhappy with this bill simply because they were conservative. King asked Baldwin if he wanted to reconsider his words, to which he replied “absolutely not, Larry. The difference between me and everyone else talking is that I’m not afraid of the repercussions of speaking the truth.”

The discussion came after the cable news network aired a clip Senator Lamar Alexander on the Senate floor making the specific comparison between Nixon and Obama, offering the friendly suggestion that the current administration change tactics, saying “as those of us who worked in the Nixon administration know, that can get you into a lot of trouble.”

Carville’s opening point focused on the fact that 11 Nixon officials went to jail, presuming somehow that attacking a media outlet is somehow okay if it’s all legal. But he summed up with a rather basic, but true position that this is “something called politics.” Got that right!

Back then, hearing the news of a VP selection by text message made us all giddy; hours of cable news time was spent pondering the hubris of Greek pillars at Invesco Field; Hurricane Gustav was threatening to wipe the whole GOP event off the map; and the country was about to be introduced to a little-known politician who showed enormous promise named Sarah Palin. Wow.

PHOTOGALLERY: 2008 CONVENTIONS

Through it all, a cadre of journos, news execs, pundits in TV makeup, upstart bloggers and jockeying political operatives had gotten used to each other’s faces on the campaign trail, through stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Super Tuesday and more, with their speeches, rallies, debates, spin rooms, hoe-downs, barbecues, fundraisers, black-tie dinners, arugula, waffles, shots of JD, the thrill of final victory and the bitter, bitter pall of defeat. In August-September 2008, it all converged into one Mega-Week (give or take a few days of travel time) as the whole gang plus everyone else who could score some couch space converged on Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul. It was lots of work but lots of fun — like sleepaway camp for politicos. So – if you’re bored and nostaligic on this sleepy summer long weekend, you’re in luck — I took the best of my 600+ photos from last year and winnowed it down to the very best of the bunch, for some golden Kodak moments featuring any and all of — in no particular order — Joe Scarborough, Joe Klein, Mika Brzezinski, Arianna Huffington, Jake Weisberg, Dana Milbank, Luke Russert, Kevin Madden, Mark Salter, Ana Marie Cox, Jon Klein, Anderson Cooper, Rick Stengel, Mary Katherine Ham, Chuck Todd, Betsy Fischer, Trent Lott, John Roberts, Laura Ingraham, Jonah Goldberg, Patrick Gavin, Rick Klein, Tucker Carlson, Amy Argetsinger, Norah O’Donnell, Pat Buchanan, Ryan Lizza, Joel Stein, Walter Isaacson, Courtney Hazlett, Keli Goff, Chris Cillizza, Mike Isikoff, Alan Cumming, Jason Jones, Samantha Power, Cass Sunstein, Carly Fiorina, Larry Page, Henry Kissinger, Chad Hurley, Jon Hamm, John Dickerson, Obama Girl, Ari Melber, Josh Green, Joan Walsh, Ron Brownstein, Matt Cooper, Fred Armisen, will.i.am, Markos Moulitsas, Chevy Chase, Tammy Haddad, Lynn Sweet, Karen Tumulty, Ben Smith, John Oliver, Karl Rove, David Carr, Kathleen Sebelius, Sammy Hagar, Rahm Emanuel, Katie Couric, Peggy Noonan and various people eating free food at the CNN Grill. Was that just a blatant attempt at showing up in all of your Google alerts? Perhaps. But still, the pics are pretty fun. Check them out here — and happy Labor Day Weekend!

PHOTOGALLERY: 2008 CONVENTIONS