Tag Archives: GOP Presidential Debate

Election, Featured, Politics

CNBC Unveils Qualified Candidates for Oct. 28 GOP Presidential Debate

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CNBC announced on Wednesday that ten candidates have beaten the 2.5 percent minimum polling requirement in an average of specifically outlined national presidential preference polls, and therefore have qualified to face off at 8 p.m. EST on the main stage at the network’s televised October 28 Republican presidential debate at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Coors Events Center.

Real estate mogul Donald Trump, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, U.S. Senator from Florida Marco Rubio, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, U.S. Senator from Texas Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and U.S. Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul have qualified for the event’s main stage.

[RELATED: DONEGAN: If GOP Debate Stage Can Fit 11, Let Third Parties In General Election Debates]

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, former New York Governor George Pataki, and U.S. Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham fell short of the main stage’s polling requirement but qualified for the event’s junior varsity undercard and will square off at 6 p.m. EST.

CNBC said that candidates will be arranged on stage on the basis of their polling averages. “Donald Trump and Ben Carson will anchor the center of the stage for the 8PM ET debate. To Donald Trump’s right will be Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee and John Kasich, in that order. To Ben Carson’s left will be Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie and Rand Paul, in that order,” the network noted.

The debate has been titled “The Republican Presidential Debate: Your Money, Your Vote” and will primarily feature questions on economics, taxes, and technology. CNBC announced that “Carl Quintanilla, co-anchor of ‘Squawk on the Street’ and ‘Squawk Alley,’ Becky Quick, co-anchor of ‘Squawk Box’ and Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood” will serve as moderators for the event.

CNBC originally stated that candidates would not be allowed an opportunity to give an opening and closing statement so as to leave what Politico’s Alex Isenstadt characterized as “more time for the candidates to potentially clash with one another.”

The GOP candidates then protested the length of the debate and the absence of opening and closing statements, which climaxed in Donald Trump and Ben Carson threatening to boycott the contest. According to CNN, CNBC subsequently gave in to some of their demands by capping the debate at two hours including commercials and agreeing to present to each candidate an open ended question at the beginning of the debate and a 30 second closing statement at the end.

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Election, Politics

Fox News Moves Second-Tier GOP Presidential Debate to More Visible Time Slot

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Fox News has once again modified the details of its first-of-the-season August 6 Republican presidential debate, which, due to the 2016 GOP field’s 16 currently-announced candidates, has been split into two separate contests. Initially, the news network announced that the candidates who polled in the top 10 according to an average of the 5 most recent national presidential polls taken prior to the event would be included in its prime-time debate at 9 p.m. EST at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, whereas those falling below that mark would instead face off in a 90-minute second-tier debate taking place at 1 p.m. EST on the same day. Fox News has yet to point out the specific 5 polls upon which the candidates will be judged.

[RELATED: Rigged? Fox News Debate Criteria Lacks Transparency]

According to Politico, Fox News has decided to move the second-tier debate to a more visible time slot on August 6. The junior varsity debate for candidates who fail to make the top ten, which has been shortened from 90 minutes to 60 minutes, will now take place at 5 p.m. EST at Quicken Loans Arena.

Politico’s Dylan Byers wrote, “The move to 5 p.m. will give the second-tier candidates a far greater audience than they would have had at mid-day — the channel’s 5 p.m. ratings are nearly double the daytime average — and will allow Fox News to transition directly from the forum into its pre-debate coverage.”

Fox News’ decision to judge candidates on their polling numbers for inclusion in the first prime-time debate of the season has been criticized by a wide range of politicos, including John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham, Ben Carson, and Rachel Maddow. Political scientist and University of Virginia Center for Politics director Larry Sabato wrote in Politico, “These rules will senselessly reward gimmicky candidates like reality-TV star Donald Trump and punish serious, viable ones like Ohio Gov. John Kasich.”

According to analysis of July 20 poll averages by The Washington Post, if the Fox News GOP debates were taking place today, Chris Christie, Ben Carson, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, and Rick Perry would qualify for the first-tier debate and Rick Santorum, John Kasich, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, and George Pataki would face off in the second-tier contest.

Fox News’ prime-time debate will be moderated by Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, and Megyn Kelly. The network’s second-tier debate will be hosted by Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum.

For more 2016 election coverage, click here.