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Should Carly Be on the Main Stage?
The next GOP primary debate is scheduled for Saturday and every major candidate is invited to participate. Well, everyone except Carly Fiorina. She wrote an open letter to the Republican National Committee to request that they discard the rules as created by ABC News:
Our debate process is broken. Networks are making up these debate rules as they go along — not to be able to fit candidates on the stage — but arbitrarily to decide which candidates make for the best TV in their opinion. Now it is time for the RNC to act in the best interest of the Party that it represents.
In 2012, the debate stage featured 8 candidates until the Iowa Caucus and then all declared candidates still in the race were invited from that point forward, including the ABC New Hampshire debate. As of today, I will be the only candidate kept off the debate stage. To review, we beat Governors Christie and Kasich in Iowa this week when voters actually had their say. This campaign has the same number of delegates as Governors Bush and Kasich while Governor Christie has zero. We’re ahead of Dr. Carson in New Hampshire polling. We are 6th in hard dollars raised and have twice the cash on hand as either Governors Christie or Kasich. We are already on the ballot in 32 states, and there is a ground game with paid staff in 12 states. Yet, all of these candidates will be invited to the ABC debate. I will not.
There are only 8 candidates left. It’s time for the RNC to demand that media executives step aside and let voters hear from all of us.
Technically, there are nine candidates left, but seeing that James Gilmore only received 12 votes in Iowa, you can hardly consider him a major player. So what do you think, Ricochetti — should ABC let Carly in?
Published in General
Yes!
Now that people have dropped out and the numbers have become manageable, there’s zero reason to exclude her, other than that you probably would have to let Gilmore in too. Maybe he could go in one of those isolation booths that the quiz shows used to use.
Yes.
Yes
What a silly question. Of course, yes.
It would be embarrassing and disgraceful to keep Carly Fiorina off the debate stage of REPUBLICAN Candidates.
For fairness, I’d say “Yes.”
Yet, how do you think Burnham and Cooper feel now about giving an irrelevant lefty like Corbyn a few votes to allow him a token run?
It might show more respect for Carly’s considerable skills to say “no.”
Yes!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Shouldn’t even be a question. GOP should force ABC to show all the remaining candidates now.
ABC certainly doesn’t want to show that the GOP has not only two Hispanics, one African-American, but a woman candidate as well. Kind of flies in the face of the Dem party line that the GOP is not diverse enough and it certainly would pour water all over the GOP hates women lie.
She’s one of the few candidates I’d actually like to listen to. Yes.
Definitely.
She’s been one of the few consistently good things that came about this year. She may be squishy on some things but I hope she’s selected as VP or has some meaningful role in a (hopefully) GOP administration.
I think she could be a very persuasive presence on a ticket, more so than focusing on a state – Ohio or Florida. I think she could persuade women and independents in all 50.
You know what they say? The fewer the better.
Sorry, if we let a woman in to a debate, what next? Give them the right to vote?
Honestly though, Carly is done. Will she add anything? If she wants to go to the debate let her get her numbers up.
Yes! Carly for Veep!
Having received better numbers in Iowa than Christie and Kasich should count for something. If she’s off the stage, they should be as well.
She is right about the debate process being broken. The debate should be hosted by a third party with the media, candidates and RNC working out the details with them. With all the GOP think tanks around why is the GOP letting a hostile press set up the rules on who and how its candidates get presented and questioned.
As for should Carly be on stage. It seems to me that having the only woman in the GOP debates relegated to the “kids table” is going to bite them in the rear in the general when the “GOP War on Women” theme get’s to full steam.
She better damn well be there!
For that reason, yes.
OMG YES!
I’m so tired of this two-tiered system – it does this country a great disservice!
Put Carly on stage. If there’s not enough room let Bush and Kasich share a podium.
Headline the next day:
“Bloodbath at Republican Debate: Bush Karate-Chopped to Death”
Of course. She is probably the third best debater in the race.
Yes, absolutely!
For that reason, yes, and also because she is a great advocate for conservative values. It’s true, ABC doesn’t want her there because she puts a female face on the Republican party. They also don’t want her there because she makes a great case for the party as a whole.
Yes, yes, yes. She should be there.
yes
Double Yes and ……Yes! She is one of the top tier to me – if she does not win, she should be tapped for a position in the new Republican administration, as well as others if they do not rise to the top – such as Carson for Surgeon General and Christie for Attorney General –
Carly should have been on the main stage from the beginning. So my answer is a resounding yes.
Yes, indeed!
And I’ll say it if no one else will: she’s the only woman in the race. So for that reason she should be on the stage.
She can be the best attack dog against Hillary. They couldn’t yell misogyny. She should be VP
Yes!