If the American people were running the Republican debate Thursday night, here are the questions they would ask the candidates — based on our latest assessment of what the people say are the most important problems facing the country today. No gotcha questions or efforts to stump the candidates or […] Read more »
Fox News announces candidate line-up for prime-time debate
Fox News has announced the line-up for the prime-time Republican presidential debate this Thursday, and here’s who qualified: Real estate magnate Donald Trump; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; Kentucky […] Read more »
Just How Arbitrary Is Fox’s 10-Person GOP Debate Cutoff?
… With the major contenders for the GOP nomination now numbering 17, Fox News will only allow the top 10 candidates into the first GOP debate on Thursday. To determine the participants, Fox will be averaging together five national polls. … I took a stab at averaging the latest five […] Read more »
Voters like Bush, Rubio. A lot don’t like Trump.
… With the first Republican presidential debate coming up Thursday, a new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents personally like Bush, saying they view him favorably rather than unfavorably. Large numbers also like Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee, far more than dislike them. But nearly […] Read more »
There’s No Perfect Way To Sort The Candidates For A Primary Debate
At this point in past presidential primary campaigns — about six months before any voting is scheduled — it was easy to mostly ignore early polls. This year is different, because the Fox News debate this Thursday is using national polls to sift a top 10 from the 17-strong GOP […] Read more »
Who Gets Into the Republican Debate: Rounding Could Decide
Two issues normally confined to the nerdy world of poll analytics may determine the final spots on stage for this week’s Republican debate. The ways that Fox News — which is televising the debate and setting the rules — resolves the issues could end up keeping Rick Perry from participating. […] Read more »