OPINION:
With upwards of 20 candidates expected in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, the two TV networks that will air the first debates have set the criteria for inclusion.
Fox will allow 10 candidates on stage, based on poll numbers, for the first debate in Aug. 6. All candidates must, of course, be registered as such with the Federal Election Commission (we’re talking to you, Donald Trump!).
But no single poll will decide the entrants. That will be based on the average of the five most recent national polls (but not necessarily those on realclearpolitics, but instead chosen by Fox News).
But if that debate were held today, two governors, a U.S. senator, and the only woman in the field would be excluded — as well as The Donald.
The debate, at least using realclearpolitics.com rolling poll average, would leave out Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina would also miss out.
Only Fiorina is currently an official candidate — and some of the 10 who make the cut are not yet candidates, either. But the format means that those mulling runs will have to keep an eye on the polls so as not to face the ultimate embarrassment — getting locked out of the first debate.
CNN will employ a two-tier system for its Sept. 16 debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. The same top 10 will debate in one forum; all the rest will have a runners-up debate. CNN will also mandate that participants have at least one paid campaign staffer in two of the early voting states.
The Republican National Committee supported the plan. “We support and respect the decision Fox has made, which will match the greatest number of candidates we have ever had on a debate stage,” said Chairman Reince Priebus.
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