New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich made the cut for the first Republican presidential debate on Thursday evening. But former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal were among those who didn't, host Fox News said Tuesday.
Along with Perry, Santorum, and Jindal, former Hewlett- Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore failed to meet Fox's criteria for the prime-time debate but are eligible to appear at a televised forum Thursday afternoon in Cleveland, the network said.
Fox said in May that candidates who placed “in the top 10 of an average of the five most recent national polls, as recognized by FOX News leading up” Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET would earn spots in the prime-time debate, which Facebook is co- hosting. “Such polling must be conducted by major, nationally recognized organizations that use standard methodological techniques,” the network said.Eligibility concerns
The Republican National Committee sanctioned the debate after the 2012 election triggered concern that the party's broad field conveyed disunity and made it hard to unseat President Barack Obama. But Fox's criteria drew complaints from lower- polling candidates who said the network was merely engaging in a popularity contest and usurping voters' responsibility for winnowing the field.
Movie star Brad Pitt “would have a better shot of being on the debate stage than real candidates for president” because the “criterion favors celebrities and candidates who have run previously with high name recognition,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in an e-mail to supporters July 7.
Other candidates deemed not ready for prime time at the Cleveland debate tried to stay positive.
"I look forward to answering questions on Thursday in Cleveland," Fiorina said in a statement. Perry said on Twitter he looked forward to the forum "for what will be a serious exchange of ideas and positive solutions to get America back on track."
Republicans and local media figures in New Hampshire, which traditionally hosts the nation's first primary in presidential election years, blasted the Fox criteria in an open letter and a forum held in Manchester on Monday that drew 14 candidates, respectively.
Even one major polling organization objected to the format: Marist announced Sunday that it would temporarily suspend its Republican primary poll because the debate criteria “assume too much precision in polls in drawing a line between candidates just a fraction apart, presume that the national polls being averaged are comparable, and turn the media sponsoring most of the polls from analysts to participants.”
Appearing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Santorum attacked the criteria for making the choice.
"National polls mean nothing," Santorum said.
The Pennsylvanian directed his fire at both Fox News, the TV network co-hosting the debate with Facebook, and the Republican National Committee, which sanctioned the debate. "It's just an arbitrary figure, and unfortunately, the national networks and the RNC have gone along with this irrelevant measure of legitimacy of candidacy."
Christie and Kasich just made the cut and will be joined by billionaire Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in the prime-time debate, the network announced on air on Tuesday evening.
Both Fox and the RNC say they are providing the largest- ever debate stage and ensuring opportunities for all candidates to have their voices heard.
The presence in the debate of Trump, a bombastic and unpredictable real estate mogul who has long flirted with running for president, has caused particular angst. Trump has freely attacked many of his fellow Republicans and has a knack for grabbing attention that could limit the notice that other candidates get from standout performances. He had a double-digit lead over the next closest competitor, Bush, in a Bloomberg Politics national poll of registered voters who identify as Republicans that was published Tuesday.
With the debate rules' emphasis on national name recognition, many candidates turned to tactics seen as an attempt to elbow their way into the Trump-dominated headlines, including chain-sawing the tax code (Paul), destroying a cellphone with a baseball bat (Graham), and likening Obama's Iran nuclear deal to marching Israelis “to the door of the oven” (Huckabee).
“It's a group of assertive folks up there, and I think we'll be heard whether you're one, three, seven or nine,” Christie, who himself has a reputation for blunt talk, said Saturday. “I think all of us want to have an opportunity to say what we need to say. I count on the fact that Fox will be fair about doling out the time to everybody.”
For his part, Trump said Saturday he is “not a debater” and doesn't plan to go on the offensive unprovoked.The rules
Fox News personalities Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and Chris Wallace will moderate the two-hour debate. Candidates will get one minute to answer each question addressed to them by the moderators, according to two people familiar with the network's plans. Candidates who are called upon will be given 30 seconds for rebuttals. If a candidate's name is invoked during someone else's answer to a question, that candidate will get a chance to respond for a length of time at the moderator's discretion.
As the candidate with the highest poll average, Trump is expected to stand at the center of the stage, with lower-polling candidates fanned out in alternating order to the left and right.
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