“However the first debate ratings are gonna be YUGE”
I think there’s a better chance than even that Hillary will actually duck the debates. And I think she’ll actually be better off to to do that politically than to risk being destroyed in the debates by Trump.
Whether she attends the debates or not, she’ll have a certain large percentage of die hard voters that would vote for her no matter what, AND the risk of not attending can be calculated with pretty good certainty, while the risk of attending and performing poorly is nearly incalculable. In other words, there is almost no upside for Hillary to attend the debates, while the downside potential is nearly unlimited.
Taking a lesson from Barbara Boxer, who ducks her opponent every time and wins double digit victories.