Fiorina fails to qualify for GOP debate in N.H.

Cooper Allen, USA TODAY 10:59 PM. EST February 04, 2016

(Photo: David Goldman, AP)



After surging in polls and making it to the prime-time debate stage late last summer, only to find herself relegated back to the undercard in last month's debates, Carly Fiorina will have no platform at all during Saturday night's face-off in Manchester, N.H., ABC News announced Thursday evening.

That's because the network, which is hosting the debate with WMUR and the Independent Journal Review, employed a criteria that required a top-three finish in Iowa, a top-six standing in an average of recent New Hampshire polls or a top-six placement in national polls in order for candidates to qualify.

Based on those requirements, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie were invited to participate.

The first seven Republican debates featured an undercard forum for lower-polling candidates, but ABC previously announced that no such debate would be held this time. So that means no Fiorina vs. Jim Gilmore showdown earlier in the evening for the most ardent of campaign 2016 junkies.

Earlier today, Fiorina picked up a high-profile backer for her cause, as 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney tweeted to ABC that it should "put @CarlyFiorina on the debate stage," noting that she'd finished higher than Kasich and Christie in Iowa. "Don't exclude only woman," he added.

Fiorina herself, in a letter to the Republican National Committee Wednesday posted on Medium, argued that the "debate process is broken."

"It’s time for the RNC to demand that media executives step aside and let voters hear from all of us," she wrote.
Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, surged in polls following a widely praised performances in the August undercard debate and on the main stage at the party's September debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif. However, her status as a top-tier GOP contender was brief, as her polling nationally and in the early states began dropping precipitously by October.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/politics/fi...in-nh/32767070