Brett McGinness, Joanna Allhands, and Jessica Estepa

USA TODAY

A refusal to debate? Outrageous preconditions to show up? Unbelievable! FTR Headquarters needs a fainting couch for moments like these.

Still, Donald Trump is in good company — including Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, everyone else in Republican field, and — if you want to stretch the definition of "refusing to debate" — you could throw in Hillary Clinton too. Let's hear it for Martin O'Malley, the only guy left who's up for anything.

If you're up for a daily briefing on the 2016 campaign, we're in — no preconditions! Well, there's one: we need your email address.

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Now, for a brief history of all the times candidates have bailed out on debates:

Refusing to debate, Republican edition

How many different ways can the GOP field be split this election cycle? So far, we have the establishment candidates vs. the outsiders; now Trump is trying to draw the line between his own die-hard supporters (dating since June) and the die-hard supporters of Fox News Channel (in a loving 19-year relationship). Despite his refusal to attend tonight's debate (9 p.m. EST for the main event, 7 p.m. for the undercard), he appeared on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor last night to make his case for not attending, and to pitch his competing event to support Wounded Warriors.

So who does this guy think he is, bailing out on an opportunity to stand before voters and answer tough questions? Well, there was that one time that the GOP stripped NBC of its February debate; they didn't like the line of questioning at an October CNBC debate (and, granted, they just moved the debate to another network). And Rand Paul refused to show up for the undercard debate last time around, insisting he was worthy of the main stage.

Are we done with the refusals to debate? Not quite. Ted Cruz has challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate this weekend in exchange for a $1.5 million donation from his super PACs to veterans' charities. Trump won't bite.

Refusing to debate, Democratic edition

Meanwhile, the other Iowa/New Hampshire front-runner (depending on what polls you're watching) isn't interested in a one-off debate, either. Hillary Clinton, after watching her Iowa lead evaporate, wants to squeeze in one more debate on Feb. 4, right before the New Hampshire primary. Great news, right? After all, both Sanders and O'Malley have been calling for more debates for months.

O'Malley says he's in. Nothing doing, says Sanders, noting that the debate isn't sanctioned by the DNC, which could lead to participants not being allowed to participate in future sanctioned debates. (So, to clarify, Bernie is worried that all three remaining Democratic candidates will be banned from the next two debates, with moderators asking questions to an empty stage?)

Sanders has a counterproposal: He's in for the Feb. 4 debate if Team Clinton agrees to three more debates, one each in March, April and May — and no Fridays, Saturdays or holidays. Hillary's camp hasn't responded, so it's not quite a refusal yet. Stay tuned.

We'll watch the Iowa returns Monday night so you can watch Supergirl or whatever

Four days out from Iowa and we're over here geeking out like it's the damn Super Bowl. On the Republican side, it looks like Trump and Cruz battling it out for first place, with third place up for grabs as well ("The third ticket is the anti-Cruz-Trump ticket," said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University.) First place in the Hawkeye State might come down to who wins the holy war for the evangelical vote. How it stands today in Iowa, courtesy of our poll tracker powered by RealClearPolitics:

Trump, 32.7% Cruz, 26.9% Rubio, 12.6% Carson, 7.6% Paul/Bush, 3.7%

And on the Democratic side:

Sanders, 46.0% Clinton, 45.8% O'Malley, 4.3% Old mitten in the Des Moines Convention Center lost and found: 3.9%

More from the campaign trail

This is how you remind me of what I really am

Meet Iowa's most dedicated troll. He won't say who who he is, but he's traveling to Ted Cruz campaign stops throughout the state to hold up a sign: "Ted Cruz likes Nickelback." Between the travel, the trip to the print shop, and the Canadian Mountie costume, he's clearly well-funded, but it seems far too subtle to be Team Trump. So is he just a freelance troll? Is he heading to New Hampshire after Monday? So many questions.