New Hampshire voters could see an empty stage at ABC News's Republican debate if presidential hopefuls turn to a Fox News Channel alternative the next day.

The New Hampshire Republican Party plans a Jan. 6 debate in conjunction with Fox News at St. Anselm College in Manchester. A day earlier, ABC News, its New Hampshire affiliate WMUR and Facebook plan back-to-back Republican and Democratic debates.

"As a practical matter, it seems likely candidates will choose to do one event but not both. It's possible both could go off," state GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen said. "ABC could end up getting the Democrat debate, and Fox News could end up getting the Republican debate. That's one possible scenario on how this all plays out in the end."

WMUR's general manager said he expects to see a full stage for both debates.

"No one has said 'no' yet. So we're assuming they're all coming," Jeff Bartlett said.

Republicans should debate on the ABC affiliate because it reaches more New Hampshire voters, he said.

"It's far better watched than Fox News Channel in this state. And it's on the ABC network across the country, which obviously has far more viewers than the cable offering Fox has," Bartlett said.

Sen. John McCain and Gov. Mike Huckabee have committed to the ABC News debate. McCain said yesterday that he would also participate in the Fox News event.

Cullen said he is optimistic others will join McCain.

"It's unrealistic to expect campaigns to be able to make commitments to these kinds of events six weeks out. It's just not going to happen," Cullen said.

The GOP chairman also said that just because a debate such as ABC News's has been announced doesn't mean anyone will show.

"A lot of debates this year have been announced as though they were taking place. Sometimes they take place. Sometimes they quietly don't take place," Cullen said. "You may recall, the CNN debate that took place in June had originally been scheduled for the first week in April."

Those debates were postponed because none of the top-tier candidates would participate.

Bartlett said the party event might focus more on fundraising than informing voters.

"We're not sure it's a debate. It may be a forum of some sort. It's kind of a fundraiser for the state party again," Bartlett said. "I'm not sure if the candidates will go to both of them or only go to ours. I'm not sure what kind of pressure the state Republican Party is putting on them to help them raise money."

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