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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: 5323
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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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
#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.
If they do I hope Trump tears her up. She has no business running for president.
She will be there to tear into Trump. He'll tear her apart in return, because of her bad record. If she's smart, she won't play the anti-Trump game. She can't win it, and she won't win the nomination by doing it. But she's going to try. You can bet on it. She's being elevated to be the anti-Trump - to attack him so that he can be seen to be "bullying a woman". It's all set up, and she's going to play her role of designated hitter, just like Rand Paul tried to be in the first debate. But she will fail at it. She will fail because her business record is awful, and she failed as an electoral candidate before, badly. Trump will go right after her for her incompetence, and contrast that to his own brilliance at building enduring projects everywhere in the world. It's a stark contrast. She will be the shrill, angry woman in a red dress, the quintessential affirmative action hire, and what everybdoy hates about alpha bitches, and by handling her firmly and putting her in her place, with humor, Trump will get a lot of male support, and a lot of female support too. The problem that the media and the politicians have is that they have bought into their own rhetoric about political correctness. They're used to weak people, like themselves, bending before it. Billionaires do not have to bend before it, and most people hate political correctness. So when they line up this perfect politically correct candidate to take out Trump, what will happen instead will be the growth of his popularity, as political correctness in a red dress goes down in flames like Icarus, before a national audience.
#9. To: Vicomte13 (#7)
Exactly. She will be the shrill, angry woman in a red dress, the quintessential affirmative action hire, and what everybdoy hates about alpha bitches, and by handling her firmly and putting her in her place, with humor, Trump will get a lot of male support, and a lot of female support too. Well stated. The logic makes sense. I wonder if enough RINO/Dem voters will also see it that way?
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#5. To: Vicomte13 (#4)
OF COURSE they were going to change the rules to get Fiorina on the stage with Trump.
#7. To: rlk (#5)
Replies to Comment # 7. She's being elevated to be the anti-Trump - to attack him so that he can be seen to be "bullying a woman". It's all set up, and she's going to play her role of designated hitter, just like Rand Paul tried to be in the first debate.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
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