Carly Fiorina did so well at the first debate in early August -- the undercard debate arrangement that preceded the main event -- that political pundits declared her the winner. Her poll numbers also show she had the most gains of any other candidate, including GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
With such movement in the polls and a fantastic first debate under her belt, it would make sense she would be included in next month’s prime-time evening debate on CNN, but not so. Fiorina’s great performance and bump in the polls still aren’t enough to make her one of the top 10 candidates for the primetime debate.
While others have her Fiorina in the number seven slot, it’s still not enough to get her in the top 10 since CNN’s polling criteria looks at surveys dating back to July 16 and therefore not accounting for her surge in the polls.
According to CNN:
The Sept. 16, 2015 event will be divided into two parts featuring two groups of candidates. One grouping will feature the top 10 candidates according to public polling, and the other will include candidates who meet the minimum threshold of 1 percent in public polling but are ranked outside the top 10.
Understandably, the Fiorina camp isn’t happy. As campaign manager Sarah Isgur Flores wrote:
Despite being solidly in the top 10 by every measure, the political establishment is still rigging the game to keep Carly off the main debate stage next month…
Fiorina’s campaign is also putting pressure on the RNC to weigh post-debate polling at the same magnitude given to pre-debate polling. If not, they claim the GOP will be “putting their thumb on the scale and choosing to favor candidates with higher polling for three weeks in July over candidates with measurable momentum in August and September.” The Fiorina camp added:
It will be interesting to see if CNN has no qualms excluding someone who is polling in the top 5 in Iowa and New Hampshire, in second place in multiple states, and well within the top 10 nationally…And it will be disappointing if Reince Priebus and the Republican establishment stand by and let a TV network keep Carly off the main stage… again.
Recently appearing on Fox News, Fiorina lamented:
If you’re a professional politician and been in the game a long time or you’re a celebrity, you’re advantaged in national polls. If you’re an outsider who literally most people have never even heard of before I launched my campaign on May 4th, you’re disadvantaged.
As of now, next month’s CNN debate is starting to look like a carbon copy of Fox News Channel’s debate.
