FOX ANNOUNCES PARTICIPANTS IN THE NOV. 10 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
REPUBLICANS
GOP candidate line-up announced for Fox Business Network/WSJ debate
Published November 05, 2015 FoxNews.com
Fox Business Network on Thursday announced the candidate line-up for the Nov. 10 Republican presidential debates.
The candidates qualifying for the prime-time, 9 p.m. ET debate are:
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; former HP CEO Carly Fiorina; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
The candidates qualifying for the earlier, 7 p.m. ET debate are:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
To qualify for the prime-time debate, a candidate had to score 2.5 percent or higher in an average of the four most recent national polls. Candidates scoring under that had to receive at least 1 percent support in at least one of the four most recent national polls to qualify for the 7 p.m. debate.
The four polls used were conducted by: Fox News; Investor’s Business Daily/TIPP; Quinnipiac University; and The Wall Street Journal/NBC News.
The candidates head into the next debate at a time when Trump and Carson are battling for the lead in most polls.
While several recent state and national surveys have shown Carson climbing into the top spot, the latest Fox News poll released Wednesday showed Trump with the edge, 26-23 percent.
The next tier in that poll included just two candidates: Cruz and Rubio, with 11 percent each.
Bush, Huckabee, Kasich and Paul registered with 4 percent.
The Fox Business Network debate, presented in partnership with The Wall Street Journal, will focus on jobs, taxes and the economy, as well as other issues. It will be held at the Milwaukee Theatre in Milwaukee, Wis.
FBN and Fox News Channel announced Thursday that cable and satellite providers have joined to make the debate available to all their subscribers.
DIRECTV, Suddenlink, Mediacom, Frontier, Wide Open West, and Cable One, and some National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) companies, plan to “unbundle” FBN so all subscribers can watch it during the debate. The debate can also be viewed at FoxBusiness.com and FoxNews.com.
The two debates start at 7 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET.
The race of late has been marked by sparring among Trump and several other candidates. Earlier this week, he challenged Carson over his readiness for office, saying “Ben can’t do the job.”
Overnight, Carson posted a lengthy defense on Facebook in response to those questioning his political inexperience.
"You are absolutely right -- I have no political experience," Carson wrote. "The current Members of Congress have a combined 8,700 years of political experience. Are we sure political experience is what we need."
He, instead, pointed to his lifetime of experience in medicine and other fields, and drew a sharp contrast between that and Trump’s business experience. In a rare jab at a primary rival, the retired pediatric neurosurgeon said he wouldn't trade his experience treating children for "Trump's money."
Trump and Rubio also have sparred in recent days, as Rubio has surged past former front-runner Bush in the polls. Trump has described Rubio’s handling of his personal finances and credit cards as a “disaster.”
Rubio, who faced ethics questions as Florida’s House speaker for using his state GOP charge card for personal reasons, has always maintained he repaid his personal expenses. Rubio answered Trump’s criticism by saying his rival “always gets weird when his poll numbers get a little down.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015.../?intcmp=hpbt3
Fox Business debate: Christie, Huckabee bumped from main stage
Fox Business debate: Christie, Huckabee bumped from main stage
Posted: Nov 05, 2015 5:32 PM PST
Updated: Nov 05, 2015 5:33 PM PST
LOS ANGELES (CNNMoney) -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee have failed to qualify for the prime time Republican debate on November 10, making them the first top-tier candidates to be relegated to the undercard round, Fox Business Network announced Thursday.
Meanwhile, former New York Governor George Pataki and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham failed to qualify for the undercard debate, meaning they will not appear at all when Republicans gather in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, next week.
The relegations could further winnow a Republican field that remains crowded with 15 candidates, the vast majority of whom are polling in the single digits. While Christie and Huckabee will still have an (albeit diminished) audience at 7 p.m., Graham and Pataki now find themselves barred from the platform they had come to rely on for media attention.
Fox Business, the sponsors of the fourth GOP debate, had stipulated last month that candidates would need to average at least 2.5% in the four most recent national polls in order to qualify for the prime time debate at 9 p.m. ET. Candidates needed to garner at least 1% in one of those polls to participate in the undercard debate at 7 p.m. ET.
Both Christie and Huckabee averaged just 2.25% in the four most recent polls -- from Fox News, Quinnipiac, NBC/Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily.
Neither Graham nor Pataki received 1 percent in any of those four polls.
Christie was defiant in the face of the news: "It doesn't matter the stage, give me a podium and I'll be there to talk about real issues like this," he tweeted Thursday night, linking to a video in which he discussed drug addiction.
Both Graham and Pataki made no secret of their frustrations with Fox's decision.
"Regardless of this decision tonight, Senator Graham continues to be the foremost expert on foreign policy and national security in this field of candidates, on either stage," Christian Ferry, his campaign manager, said in a statement. "In the end, the biggest loser tonight is the American people and the Republican Presidential primary process that has been hijacked by news outlets."
In his own statement, Pataki said he was "very disappointed tonight that early national polls are shaping the election choices for the American people. This new trend is a danger to our primary system, a disservice to voters everywhere, especially those in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and a clear boost for the worship of celebrity over accomplishment and ideas."
With Pataki and Graham off the stage, Christie and Huckabee will appear in a four-way debate alongside former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
The candidates at the November 10 debate will appear on stage in accordance with their standing in the polls.
Donald Trump, the frontrunner, will appear at center stage, flanked by Dr. Ben Carson, the runner-up, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, in third.
From there, the ranking of the candidates is as follows: 4. Texas Senator Ted Cruz. 5. former Florida governor Jeb Bush. 6. Carly Fiorina. 7. Ohio Governor John Kasich. 8. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that Mike Huckabee would be on the main stage and Lindsey Graham would be on the undercard.
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/30450955/...rom-main-stage
