The top ten: pic.twitter.com/ujmTvlE2pi
— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) August 4, 2015
The lead story on Tuesday’s Special Report with Bret Baier has been analyzed for weeks. In the end, there were no surprises. The moderators of the first Republican debate, Fox News’s Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly, and Baier, announced the ten candidates who will appear on the debate and their order. The main Fox News debate will take place on Thursday, August 6th, at 8 PM ET. Those who will be participating:
- Businessman Donald Trump (NY)
- Former Governor Jeb Bush (FL)
- Governor Scott Walker (WI)
- Former Governor Mike Huckabee (AR)
- Dr. Ben Carson (MD)
- Senator Ted Cruz (TX)
- Senator Marco Rubio (FL)
- Senator Rand Paul (KY)
- Governor Chris Christie (NJ)
- Governor John Kasich (OH)
The cable news network also unveiled the set-up for their earlier debate that lower polling candidates. That debate has been compared to a junior varsity squad.
- Governor Rick Perry (TX)
- Senator Rick Santorum (PA)
- Governor Bobby Jindal (LA)
- Businesswoman Carly Fiorina (CA)
- Senator Lindsey Graham (SC)
- Former Governor George Pataki (NY)
- Former Governor Jim Gilmore (VA)
Santorum continued to criticized the debate forum Tuesday. He said that it did not make sense to determine the debate standings using national polling. He pointed out that the national leaders four and eight years ago ended up doing very poorly when it came to the actual delegate process. The main question over the standings was who would make up the bottom tier. Governors Perry, Kasich, and Christie all fluctuated around ninth, tenth, and eleventh place with some question as to where each would land. In the end, Perry, who has focused his campaign on attacking Trump’s candidacy, did not make the cut. However, he will be center stage for the JV debate. On Twitter, some criticized the rigidity of the selection process and suggested that Perry also be included due to how close it was. Fox News said eleven people could be included in the event of a tie, but did not specify at what place the tie would be determined.
Across five national polls, what separated Kasich from Perry was, roughly, the opinions of 50 people. Such are the margins here.
— Neil King (@NKingofDC) August 4, 2015