Fox Business announces the next Republican Debate lineup

The previous Republican prime-time debates had at least 10 contenders on stage. Ted Cruz; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Kentucky Sen.

The Fox Business Network announced yesterday that the lineup for next week’s Republican debate will not include New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Fox Business Channel said candidates must have reached 2.5 percent in an average of the four latest national polls in order to qualify for the debate. “Give me a podium, give me a stage, put the camera on, we’ll be just fine.”I’ve never had a problem, as you know… making an impression”, Christie said”.

“The debates are a moment in time, and if you look at people who’ve done well in the debates and I’m one of them… according to [pundits]”, Christie said, “it’s kind of like a sugar high”.

While Huckabee and Christie got demoted, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and former New York Governor George Pataki fared even worse. Saying at one point, “who cares” about the topic, Christie drew cheers from the audience when he said there are far more serious issues for presidential candidates to talk about than people playing fantasy football. In addition to moving Christie and Huckabee to the “kids’ table” of underperforming candidates, that strategy also ended up kicking Sen.

Mike DuHaime, a Christie adviser, brushed off the governor’s missing the main debate, telling The Record that last week was the best week of Christie’s presidential campaign. Rick Santorum, R-Penn.

While Christie has remained near the bottom of national surveys, his support has gone up in both Iowa and New Hampshire, the states housing the first two nominating contests of 2016.

Pataki and Graham were cut from the undercard debate, so they will not participate in either debate Tuesday. “The debate falls at a pivotal time in the election cycle and through the help and support of these partners, many more of their customers will have access to it on November 10th”.

Pataki complained that relying on national polls was “a disservice to voters everywhere” and “a clear boost to the worship of celebrity over accomplishment and ideas”.

Exclusion from the main debate hurts Christie’s ability to raise campaign money, but it probably won’t force Christie to drop out of the race in the days ahead, said Seton Hall political science professor Matthew Hale.