Candidate lineup announced for Fox News presidential debate

Governors with experience – and baggage. At stake for Republicans: not only picking the candidate to represent them in the general election, but also selecting the direction the party will take as it seeks to regain the White House. At the first debate, he promises to draw “a clear distinction” between the hawkish foreign-policy views of his rivals and his own libertarian-leaning ones.

Trump’s support ranged broadly across subgroups within the GOP. The network hasn’t yet specified how many candidates will be in each.

While Republicans say they relish their options, it’s doubtful many expected the summer surge of businessman and reality television star Donald Trump.

The musical chairs-like rules for participation in Thursday’s televised debate required candidates to reach a certain threshold in opinion polls, making national exposure to an interested audience vital at a stage in the campaign when candidates are usually shaking hands in early primary states.

Is the Republican Party embracing Donald Trump? In the past few months, the Texas senator has seen his presidential campaign eclipsed by Trump, who like Cruz espouses positions some of the other contenders reject as extreme. The debate is Carson’s biggest opening since then to reach Republican voters as a political outsider with a moral message. “I think it’s unreasonable to think he was ever going to be that kind of candidate”. “If I’m attacked, I have to, you know, do something back, but I’d like it to be very civil”, Trump said on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.

Perry’s absence from the prime-time debate eliminates one of the party’s most outspoken critics of Trump, the brash billionaire who leads Republican preference polls. But like Mitt Romney, who filled that role in 2012 before ultimately claiming the nomination, Bush has struggled to break away from the rest of the field. It’s named Bush – the shadow cast by his father and particularly his brother, both former presidents.

To Trump’s right on the stage will be Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose victories over unions in his home state created his national profile.

Ted Cruz: Trump, but with electoral experience. Marco Rubio; Kentucky Sen.

Rounding out the top 10 are a pair of governors.

Perry was edged out of the crucial 10th spot for Thursday’s main event by Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Trump’s staffers have apologized for various gaffes made by Trump and, by extension, his campaign.

“They all have an identical agenda”, said Joel Benenson, Clinton’s chief strategist.

Five more party-sanctioned debates are scheduled before primary voting begins in February. The 10 qualifying candidates were, according to Fox News, determined based on an average of the five most recent national polls, and will gather on the primetime, 9pm ET stage.

Candidates with time to watch that debate are former New York Gov. George Pataki, former tech executive Carly Fiorina, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Sen.

“She’s the only woman candidate”, he said.