As ABC News announces a GOP debate set for later this year, there is a new report that the first face-off of the 2012 election cycle, may not happen as planned. The first debate has been set for May 2 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and is co-sponsored by Politico and NBC. The NYTimes The Caucus blog reports:

Conversations with Republican operatives this week suggest that there is deep skepticism in several of the potential candidate camps about jumping into a televised debate so soon after getting into the race. And several Republicans said they are nervous about committing to a debate hosted by NBC if the moderator ends up being a television host with an acknowledged liberal bias, like Rachel Maddow or Chris Matthews.

Debate organizers, however, say it will be co-moderated by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and Politico’s editor-in-chief John Harris. Matthews co-moderated the May 3, 2007 debate at the Reagan Library, along with Harris.