Rand Paul makes main debate stage
January 26, 2016, 06:03 pm
Rand Paul makes main debate stage
By Ben Kamisar
http://thehill.com/sites/default/fil...?itok=PAKTewga
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Rand Paul has squeaked back onto the main stage for Thursday’s GOP presidential debate thanks to a slight increase at the polls in Iowa just before the deadline.
The Kentucky senator was essentially a lock to fall short of two prongs of Fox News’s criteria — polling within the top six in an average of five national polls or top five in the average of recent New Hampshire polls. But he pulled ahead of Jeb Bush in Iowa in the four consecutive polls released before Tuesday's 5 p.m. deadline, punching his ticket for Thursday’s main event.
He had missed the cut for the Fox Business Network prime-time debate earlier this month, a decision he protested by skipping the undercard debate. He also had been on the fence for CNN’s December debate before the network relaxed its criteria to allow him to remain on stage.All that prompted him to go on a tear against the media, accusing television networks hosting the debates of "playing God" by setting criteria that threatened to squeeze out candidates separated by the margin of error of most polls.
Paul’s ascendance to the main stage is the only difference in the debate lineup from the Fox Business Network debate earlier this month. He’ll join Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich.
Trump is currently flirting with skipping the debate in protest of moderator Megyn Kelly, with whom he has sparred with repeatedly ever since the race’s first debate, in August.
In an unexpected development, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore will join Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum in the undercard debate.
The Fox News debate is the last chance for the candidates to reach a national audience before voters head to caucus Monday night in Iowa. Trump and Cruz are both polling well ahead of their currently in a tier significantly ahead of their rivals at the polls in Iowa.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/...n-debate-stage
