It is noyt so much the length of the debate, but the far too many people on the stage. They should go for the top six at most and cashier the rest. That would be Cruz at 7%, Bush at 7.3%, Fiorina 8.3%, Rubio at 9.9%, Carson at 19.1% and Trump 23.4% per RCP averages.
The rest are all below 3% and are simply not viable enough to command a seat at the Big Kids table. They can have a different debate earlier or even on another day.
Two hours is simply enough with this in mind and eliminating opening and closing statements is a nonstarter for all the candidates as they know all the media is interested in is a food fight and the candidates want at least a few minutes each to speak directly to the country without a media filter.
Trump and Carson are doing Cruz and the rest of the viable candidates a favor. Cruz, Carson & Rubio where barely heard from in over three hours over the last two debates. They had no chance to connect or even get a message across as they where all but ignored by the ‘moderator’ who acted like a moron trying to start a fist fight between Trump and anyone that could be bated by Tapper to take the bait. It was nonsense and silly and would never have bean done to the Democrats who are all in lock step with their fellow Leftists in the press.
Trump and Carson have transformed the election by talking past, around and over the gate keepers in the media and have discovered that they no longer need the exposure as much as the media needs the chance to expose.
Nice!