The fifth and final Republican presidential primary of 2015 is upon us, and the roster is now at 13 candidates. Bobby Jindal has joined Rick Perry and Scott Walker on the sidelines. CNN will again broadcast the debate, as they did in September. The venue will be The Venetian in Las Vegas, so place your bets on who will be the first to mention China or threaten to drop out and run as an independent.
The prime-time lineup of nine was based upon poll averages recognized by CNN where each of them received at least 3.5 percent nationally or at least 4 percent in either the Iowa or New Hampshire polls. The candidates as they will appear at the podiums in order from left to right, with the highest-polling Republican appearing in the center and the lowest of the nine appearing on each end, are:
John Kasich;
Carly Fiorina;
Marco Rubio;
Ben Carson;
Donald Trump;
Ted Cruz;
Jeb! Bush;
Chris Christie;
and barely squeaking in on the right side thanks to a new Fox News poll, Rand Paul.
Christie, Fiorina, and Kasich qualified for the main debate because of the results of the New Hampshire poll, according to CNN.
The four candidates who appear in the pre-debate debate and should just give up already are, from left to right:
George Pataki;
Mike Huckabee;
Rick Santorum;
and lastly, Lindsey Graham.
Wolf Blitzer is the debate moderator, while Dana Bash and Hugh Hewitt will ask the questions.
The first debate with the four also-rans takes place at 6pm Eastern Time/5pm Central.
The second debate with the front nine candidates is at 8:30pm Eastern/7:30pm Central.
The debate will air on CNN, CNN International, and CNN en Español. It will also be streamed on CNN.com. To watch using the CNN app on your fancy rich people’s mobile devices, you can download the app here. No special login will be needed to watch the debate online nor through the app.
The Salem Radio Network will also air the debate audio live via its various radio stations across the country. It may also be available through streaming via the stations’ websites. Here’s the link to the list of SRN stations.
This here is the open thread where you can tear down or build up the contenders of your choice. Or don’t. Because open thread.
