Because he needs it now. It sucks to not have a choice, but Newt put himself in that position.
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What’s the difference. You say Rick challenged him, now he has his chance. What’s he afraid of?
Incidentally, I’m accepting what you say as fact- but a doubt Newt would have avoided a Lincoln/Douglas debate with Rick. He likes Rick. And if you watched the LD debates with Newt and Cain and then Huntsman- they were merely discussions - they weren’t actual debates.
Read my link at #17. I posted it the night after Rick issued his challenge on Greta's show last December:
“Newt’s been campaigning on doing Lincoln-Douglas style debates and I think it’s a great idea - Count me in. The voters deserve more than 60 second sound bites, they deserve substance and real solutions to the problems facing our nation. This will be a great opportunity for the people of Iowa to learn more about us, our records, and our vision for America. Newt and I have been friends for 20 years, so this will be fun. Game on.”
I'm not aware if Newt ever responded, but if he did it was not to accept; there was no one-on-one between them in Iowa. To my knowledge, the Santorum campaign never called Newt on not accepting, but in the light of all the accusations of Rick's "cowardice" today in regards to the Georgia debate, I certainly think it's fair to raise the issue.