Rick Perry pitches credentials to appear on debate stage

Rather, the 11th-hour dash is among those in the middle and back of the pack, competing for the last of 10 slots in the prime-time event at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.

And it kicks off Thursday, August 6 with the first debate between the Republican candidates on the Fox News Channel.

Now, Mr. Clemente said, a candidate need only be consistently offered as an option in the major polls being used to calculate the Top 10 to receive an invitation.

According to an ABC News analysis, Rick Perry is now in 11th place in an average of five national polls, missing the final debate podium by just six-tenths of a percentage point.

But there is heavy competition for the main event, the first time leading candidates will face off after seemingly weekly campaign kick-offs. “The Monmouth University poll was created just to aggravate me”, Christie said, as reported by Politico.

Asked how he would respond to Trump in person, Perry replied with a physical challenge, “Let’s get a pull-up bar out there and see who can do the most pull-ups”.

Meanwhile, Christie declared war on marijuana this week, promising Coloradans they had better enjoy legalized pot today because he will enforce federal laws against it when he is in the White House. The New York Times even discussed the placement of candidates, which we confirmed with Fox News.

The poll shows Bush, the former Florida governor, trailing at 12 percent. Rick Santorum. Lindsey Graham will be able tell the nation – for a few minutes at least – why they should be President.

But John Feehery, a Republican strategist in Washington, cautioned not to place too much stock in Trump’s surge, arguing it is largely a function of the name recognition he enjoys in light of his celebrity.

It feels like a Vegas championship bout because of the bluster of Donald Trump, the endless analysis and picks of the press, but even more so because of the pre-debate naming of the contestants two days before the fracas that’s going to play like a weigh-in. However, he said, “it can hurt from a momentum standpoint, in that it is a spotlight you are not getting”.

We’re seeking roughly a half dozen undecided Republican readers who’d be willing to share their real-time thoughts on the debate via Twitter as they watch it on TV.

Perhaps an indication of how comfortable the GOP front-runner feels right now, Trump is in Scotland and attended the Women’s British Open at one of his resorts – though he still talked campaign shop with reporters Thursday. Will retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson again compare the Affordable Care Act to slavery?

While Rand Paul isn’t on the cusp of missing out on the debate, the Kentucky senator is trying to claw his way into the top tier and recover the potential front runner status he had earlier in the race.

Cruz, who will appear at the New Hampshire forum via satellite because the Senate will be in session, has recently been a magnet for attention, and not necessarily positive.