CNBC announced its lineup for the GOP debate on Wednesday, October 28th. There will be ten candidates strong at their podiums and ready to rumble.
VIa CNBC email:
Today marks the close of the five-week window for determining eligibility based on national polls. The results were based on methodically sound and recognized national polls conducted by NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN and Bloomberg. The debate will be divided into two parts. The candidates with an average of three percent in this specified group of national polls will take the stage shortly after 8PM ET for a two-hour debate. The candidates who met the minimum threshold of one percent in any one of the specified group of national polls will take the stage at 6PM ET. The full criteria may be found here.
The following 10 candidates will take the stage shortly after 8PM ET:
- Donald Trump: 25.22
- Ben Carson: 19.78
- Marco Rubio: 9.67
- Jeb Bush: 8.11
- Carly Fiorina: 8.11
- Ted Cruz: 6.89
- Mike Huckabee: 3.56
- Chris Christie: 3.00
- John Kasich: 3.00
- Rand Paul: 3.00
This specified group of national polls were also used to determine the order that the candidates will appear on stage. Donald Trump and Ben Carson will anchor the center of the stage for the 8PM ET debate. To Donald Trump’s right will be Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee and John Kasich, in that order. To Ben Carson’s left will be Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie and Rand Paul, in that order. For candidates whose national poll averages were tied, podium positions were selected by a drawing.
The following four candidates, who met the minimum threshold of one percent in any one of the specified group of national polls, will take the stage at 6PM ET:
- Rick Santorum
- Bobby Jindal
- George Pataki
- Lindsey Graham
I believe the kiddie table will take a big ratings hit this time around because nobody cares about these wannabees.
