GOP hopefuls gather in S. Carolina for pre-primary debates

Fox Business Channel will carry the debate on Thursday and included candidates ranking in the top six nationally or top five in Iowa or New Hampshire polls.

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie will be on stage, and will not be singled out should any one of them fail to return in a timely fashion from the bathroom. The Anchor/Managing Editor of Business News, Neil Cavuto and Anchor/Global Markets Editor Bartiromo are going to reprise their roles as moderators for the debate, with the earlier debate again moderated by Trish Regan and Sandra Smith.

Luckily, the kids table debate has several other options for the imploding candidacy of your choice: Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee will all be there.

Paul said the poll was conducted before the January 10 cutoff-but released afterwards-and puts him in position to meet Fox Business’s standard.

Paul said his exclusion from the main debate stage “disenfranchises the voters of Iowa or New Hampshire”.

Meanwhile among the Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton’s edge over Bernie Sanders has shrunk to just two percentage points in Iowa.

Paul added, “Or you could make the choice that we made and say, ‘You know what, we’re not a second tier campaign”. Beyond the Trump-Cruz theatrics – Trump and Cruz are locked in battle for first place Iowa caucuses – Bush has blasted Trump and Rubio, Rubio has slammed Bush as well as Cruz and Christie, and Christie has attacked most everyone else.

Eschewing the debate stage for a virtual exchange was a bold move, but it paid off for Paul – at least on social media.

Asked if pulling out of the debate would appear to be sour grapes, Paul said it is a “mistake to let the media or the party pre-decide who has a chance and who doesn’t have a chance”. The news hook during all of the interviews focused on his decision to skip the debate. In contrast, the last Fox Business “undercard” debate, in November, averaged just 4.7 million viewers. But she struggled to translate her success in the debates into better polling numbers.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) delivered a message from his presidential campaign’s supporters to the media on Thursday: A middle finger. “We are not going to announce to the American people that we are no longer in contention because we absolutely are in contention”, Paul told CNN on Thursday morning.