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Title: CNN changes debate criteria, clearing path for Fiorina (and more than 10)
Source:
Politico
URL Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/ ... r-fiorina-213237#ixzz3kWitNbmU
Published: Sep 1, 2015
Author: Hadas Gold
Post Date: 2015-09-01 20:23:35 by Hondo68
Keywords: None
Views: 4141
Comments: 56
Getty CNN announced on Tuesday that it has changed the criteria for its upcoming debate, making space for Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina on the primetime stage. Fiorina had argued for weeks that CNN's debate criteria unfairly weighted early field leaders over contenders like her who have polled better since the Fox News debate on Aug. 6. According to CNN, any candidate who ranks in the top 10 between Aug. 6 and Sept. 10 will be included in the primetime debate on Sept. 16. Also allowed in the main show will be candidates who scored in the top 10 averages of all approved national polls between July 16 and Sept. 10, as the original criteria released in May stated. This means it is possible there will be more than 10 candidates on the primetime debate stage. The new approach allows the network to avoid looking like it's favoring Fiorina at the expense of candidates such as Chris Christie and Rand Paul who would have been at risk of getting bumped to the earlier debate if CNN had more heavily weighted later polls, as Fiorina had suggested. Still, CNN warned in an announcement that final podium placements won't be known until Sept. 10, after all national polls have come in. "In the event that any candidate is polling in the top 10 in an average of approved national polls released between August 7th and September 10th, we will add those candidates to our top tier debate, even if those candidates did not poll in the top 10 in an average of approved national polls between July 16th and September 10th," CNN said in a statement. "We have discussed these changes with the Republican National Committee and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and they are fully supportive." Despite weeks of statements claiming that there would be no change, CNN said they decided to change the criteria after learning that there would likely only be two more polls conducted before the Sept. 10 deadline. The new format was announced in a conference call with representatives from all Republican campaigns on Tuesday afternoon, with sources on the call describing the change as a last-minute decision. CNN also said in its statement: "We learned this week that there will likely be only two more polls by the deadline of September 10th. In a world where we expected there to be at least 15 national polls, based on historic precedent, it appears there will be only five. As a result, we now believe we should adjust the criteria to ensure the next debate best reflects the most current state of the national race." RNC chairman Reince Priebus released his own statement saying that he supports the decision. "I applaud CNN for recognizing the historic nature of this debate and fully support the network's decision to amend their criteria," Priebus said. He later said during an appearance on CNN that the network had made a judgment based on prior patterns that did not hold true, that there would be more polls closer to the deadline. "By not altering the criteria to maybe exclude people who were counting on it, by adding a podium for anyone that might be in the top 10 but not otherwise meeting the criteria I think that the problem is solved and I think that was the right decision and they did the right thing," Priebus said. According to a POLITICO calculation, in the three polls conducted since the first debate on Aug. 6, Fiorina is in seventh place, with an average of 5 percent. Fiorina was in the earlier "happy hour" debate during last month's Fox News debate, and delivered a standout performance that has fueled her bid to make it onto the primetime stage next time around. The CNN debate will similarly be split into two sessions, with a 6 p.m. undercard debate, and a 9 p.m. main show. On Twitter, Fiorina tweeted her gratitude, saying "THANKS TO YOU, we will be able to share our message of leadership and citizenship with Republican voters on the main debate stage." She followed the message with a second tweet: "…and thank you to @RealBenCarson and @realDonaldTrump who spoke out in support of a fair debate process." Ben Carson also celebrated the move on Twitter, saying "Big win for We the People! Pleased to see @CarlyFiorina having an opportunity to have her voice heard at the debate." In addition to the new criteria, campaigns were told that further decisions about format, such as opening and closing statements, will be made next week, according to a source who was on the call. Many campaigns on the call asked about tickets and credentials, since the debate will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which has a much smaller capacity than the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. At the moment, each campaign is limited to seven tickets per candidate. 
CNN says they expect just two additional national polls will be released between now and the Sept. 10 deadline, making it difficult for Fiorina to fall out of the additional, post-debate top 10. (If Fiorina was at only 2 percent in the two forthcoming polls, she would still be in ninth place in this subsequent average.)
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#4. To: Too Conservative (#0)
Can't remember who this is for, exactly, but you'll do as a proxy. TOLD YA SO! OF COURSE they were going to change the rules to get Fiorina on the stage with Trump.
OF COURSE they were going to change the rules to get Fiorina on the stage with Trump. Your prophetic claims aside, I don't recall you making any such prediction.
Back on the thread where people were screaming about "Changing the rules!" and how bad that was, I said from the get go that the rules would most certainly be changed to get Fiorina up on that stage, because she would be there to hit at Trump from a female perspective, and because she was the most interesting in the "Kid's Table". I could go back and find it, but nah.
It is relatively straightforward. CNN is simply weighting the qualifying polls toward more recent polls, to reflect the change in candidates' standing. Fiorina is #3 in Iowa now so of course it makes more sense to include her on the big stage. The only real question is whether some of the 1%ers and 2%er candidates (Paul, Jindal, Huckabee, etc.) should be shuffled out of the main debate and down to the junior varsity debate. The whole point of Iowa and New Hampshire is to allow less-funded, less-known candidates to have a chance. CNN's move is in keeping with the roles of these two classic primary contests.
They are NOW. But that wasn't the original criteria. And that's what's important. Screw CNN for caving in and changing the rules. And screw Fiorina for whining and crying and stomping her feet until she got her way by pressuring CNN to accommodate her. Yes, she won the battle. But, in my opinion, she lost the war. I don't want a crybaby President, and I hope Trump pounds the shit out of her by saying the same.
Come on. You're way overboard. The "original criteria" as you describe them were merely what Fox News came up with for their debate and it was a reasonably fair picture of how the race stood when they held their debate. However, those were only the "rules" for one debate. CNN is completely free to rewrite the "rules" entirely. They could split it into a dozen debates. They could give the underdog debate in primetime and the main event in the afternoon or after midnight. The only "rules" are that the two political parties cannot dictate any debate rules to the networks. Otherwise, the FEC considers that as a kind of "coordination" and it will result in heavy fines. Take another scenario, like Romney or Mitch Daniels getting into the race late, like in October. You might see Biden or Warren get in as late as October. So they might enter the race and get 10%-15% in one or two polls before the next debate happens. However, because they were not in all the polls all year long like the other candidates have been, they would never score high enough to be included in any headline debate and either wouldn't qualify at all or would only qualify for the junior varsity debate. For instance, Kasich very nearly missed being in the main debate last time and largely because he entered the race so late. These "rules" you're touting are a big nothing, IMO. But there are no perfect answers to the problem posed. Just ones that are considered more or less relevant to the state of the race.
No. Fox News had rules for their debate. CNN had rules for their debate. And the CNN rules used the average of national polls dating from mid-July to September 10. CNN has now changed those rules to use the average of national polls dating August 6 to September 10. This eliminates all the low Fiorina polls prior to her first debate. What about the candidates who polled high before the first debate? Now all those polls are ignored. Is that fair to them? "CNN is completely free to rewrite the "rules" entirely." I agree. But my point was never whether or not they could but whether or not they should.
Actually, I would demote them to the junior varsity debate. Including a few candidates I like. You're just bitchin' 'cause you don't like da Carly.
#35. To: TooConservative (#30)
Well, I don't like her whining and crying to change the rules to favor her, personally. That's what liberals do. And she was kicked out of HP. Which leads me to believe she obtained that position because of her gender, not her abilities. I feel she's doing the same as a Presidential candidate.
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#8. To: Vicomte13 (#4)
TOLD YA SO!
#13. To: TooConservative (#8)
Your prophetic claims aside, I don't recall you making any such prediction.
#14. To: Vicomte13 (#13)
Back on the thread where people were screaming about "Changing the rules!" and how bad that was, I said from the get go that the rules would most certainly be changed to get Fiorina up on that stage, because she would be there to hit at Trump from a female perspective, and because she was the most interesting in the "Kid's Table".
#18. To: TooConservative (#14)
"It is relatively straightforward. CNN is simply weighting the qualifying polls toward more recent polls"
#19. To: misterwhite (#18)
They are NOW. But that wasn't the original criteria. And that's what's important.
#20. To: TooConservative (#19)
"However, those were only the "rules" for one debate."
#30. To: misterwhite (#20)
What about the candidates who polled high before the first debate? Now all those polls are ignored. Is that fair to them?
Replies to Comment # 30. "You're just bitchin' 'cause you don't like da Carly."
End Trace Mode for Comment # 30.
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