Posted on 12/11/2015 5:56:42 AM PST by Michael van der Galien
Bad news for Senator Rand Paul:
"Kentucky Senator Rand Paul will almost certainly fail to qualify for the primetime stage at next Tuesday's fifth Republican primary debate, according to an analysis of poll data conducted by Bloomberg. Paul has been included in all four of the main presidential debates to this point in the campaign."
In order to qualify for the debate, candidates have to poll at least 3.5% nationally or 4% in New Hampshire or Iowa based on major polls conducted between Oct. 29 and Dec. 13.
Rand falls short on all these requirements. The only possible way for him to get into the debate is by performing remarkably better in the last polls before the debate. He'll have to poll 6% in Iowa, 8% in New Hampshire, and more than 10% nationally. Chances of that happening are extremely modest.
In other words, Paul won't be at CNN's next debate, and that'll mean his campaign is over before the primaries even get started. It must be terribly disappointing for the senator who thought he'd unite his father's -- Ron Paul -- coalition of libertarians behind him, and possibly add some traditional conservatives to it.Instead of enlarging his father's base, Rand has lost Ron's supporters, with many of them preferring Ted Cruz over him.
Interestingly enough, Chris Christie -- who was well behind everyone from day one -- will participate in the debate. This because he's polling an average of 6.8% in New Hampshire, a state that traditionally prefers establishment candidates like the New Jersey governor.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
3.5+% candidates are in? They’ll do anything to keep JEB from dropping out.
Curios how Jeb always makes the cut.
Yep.
The candidates with double digit polling numbers should refuse to attend the debate and hold their own. Trump, Carson, Rubio and Cruz. Three of them are decidedly not GOPe and could further erode the establishment’s relevancy.
Rubio, if he has any hopes at all, would have to attend the real debate thus furthering the decline of the GOPe as even one of their own, the GOPe candidate with the best shot of doing something, would point to where the action is and it isn’t with the power brokers.
Rand lost a lot of credibility in supporting McConnel both in McConnell’s primary and supporting votes after the election last year that really screwed conservatives.
Check new NH poll on RCP. TRUMP 27, CHRISTIE 12 in 2nd!
Yep. If they aren’t in double digits by now it ain’t happening.
He shouldn’t have attacked Trump head-on, or he should have been smarter and less direct about it like Rubio has been.
Jeb/Rand 2016!!!
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