GOP nears "first major test" of '16 campaign

The largest Republican presidential field ever was running through last-minute preparations Thursday before their first televised debate of the 2016 campaign.

The prime-time event -- which will include just 10 of the candidates as selected by Fox News -- was set to get underway at 9 p.m. Frontrunner Donald Trump will be tested for the first time in this stage while New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and others will try to break through the clog.

The so-called second tier of seven candidates -- including former New York Gov. George Pataki -- will square off in a 5 p.m. forum.

"I'll get to watch Jon Stewart's final show," Pataki quipped, referring to the "Daily Show" finale and making light of his placement in the early forum. A day earlier, he said he thought it was "wrong" that a TV network was deciding "who is a credible candidate."

With so many hopefuls in one arena -- Quicken Loans Arena, by the way, where LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers play basketball -- there will be more pressure than usual to shine in this debate, analysts said.

"This is the first major test for these candidates," said John Green, a University of Akron political scientist.

Green said the early debate will have a smaller national audience but will be watched intently by the news media, making it crucial too.

"There will be less pressure for a 'performance,' but more pressure because audience is going to be much more informed," Green said.

Two hours before the Republicans began, Democrats bashed them in a pre-emptive news conference.

"It doesn't really matter which Republicans are up there because they are all the same," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. She said they all favor tax cuts for the wealthy and cuts in Medicare while they oppose any action on climate change.

Taking a shot at one of the other frontrunners, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wasserman Schultz said: "We know what a Bush presidency would look like ... because we've seen it before."