Debate stage will winnow GOP field
Donald Trump is not happy with President Obama's handling of the Baltimore riots. Credit: Getty Images / Jewel Samad
Seekers of the 2016 Republican presidential nomination have 75 days to pump up their poll numbers to make the cut for the first televised debate in August.
To earn one of the podiums host Fox News is putting on the stage in Cleveland, the network says "candidates must place in the top 10 of an average of the five most recent national polls." Not easy.
As of now, Donald Trump, if he formally files, another requirement, makes it. So does ex-Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who flamed out four years ago. Left out are John Kasich and Bobby Jindall, the governors of Ohio and Louisiana; U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina; Rick Santorum, who won the 2012 Iowa caucuses; Carly Fiorina, the only woman in the GOP field; and George Pataki, New York's former governor.
Perhaps Democrats can sublet them some space.
