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Eight Candidates Taking the Stage at the First GOP Debate (READER POLL)

Eight Candidates Taking the Stage at the First GOP Debate (READER POLL)

Will you watch? Take our Reader Poll.

READER POLL AS TO WHETHER YOU WILL WATCH – AT BOTTOM OF POST

the first GOP presidential debate is Wednesday at 9 PM ET on Fox News. (I plan on watching baseball.)

President Donald Trump won’t be on the stage. At least for now. Maybe he’ll crash it! We need more drama, right?

Anyway.

The debate has eight candidates:

  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
  • Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina
  • Vivek Ramaswamy
  • North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
  • Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
  • Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
  • Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
  • Former Vice President Mike Pence

Larry Elder, Perry Johnson, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez did not make the stage.

Trump did not sign the pledge to support the Republican presidential nominee.

The candidates had to reach a threshold to perform at the debate:

To make the stage, candidates were required to reach 1% in three national polls, or 1% in two national polls and two state-specific polls from the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

Additionally, to reach the debate stage, candidates were required to have 40,000 unique donors to their campaign committee (or exploratory committee), with “at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20+ states and/or territories,” according to the RNC criteria.

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Comments

The time is getting very narrow for Trump to actually decide to attend. At this point it is almost a certainty that he won’t.

So much for the predictions of many LI editors and commentators.

    gonzotx in reply to thad_the_man. | August 22, 2023 at 6:21 pm

    I guess you haven’t heard?

    President Trump, not Trump you all

    Will be on Tucker

      Tiki in reply to gonzotx. | August 22, 2023 at 7:04 pm

      Mark my words, you’ll soon be crying that Softball Tucker played hardball with Trump. And those tears will be:

      O, that infected moisture of his eye,
      O, that false fire which in his cheek so glowed,
      O, that forc’d thunder from his heart did fly,
      O, that sad breath his spungy lungs bestowed,
      O, all that borrowed motion seeming owed,
      Would yet again betray the fore-betray’d,
      And new pervert a reconciled maid!

    diver64 in reply to thad_the_man. | August 23, 2023 at 4:15 am

    I would have been stunned if he had attended. He is up in some polls nearly 50% over DeSantis. To show up and spend 2 hours being attacked by 8 other people, well I doubt Vivek would as he has not yet, would accomplish nothing and we would learn nothing about the others. We already know where Trump stands on about everything.

    The Gentle Grizzly in reply to thad_the_man. | August 23, 2023 at 6:50 am

    That last i read, he won’t participate, and has called on the others to drop out of the race. You know: step aside, peasants; this is mine and you are annoying His Majesty.

I won’t watch. The questions are stupid and the format is idiotic.

smalltownoklahoman | August 22, 2023 at 5:45 pm

Not sure if I will watch all of it, but likely part of it. I’m sure there will be plenty of highlights for the parts I missed that will be discussed the next day.

Something to maybe read before the debate: Breitbart had most of the candidates answer the same set of questions. Looking through it right now myself: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/08/22/exclusive-2024-gop-candidate-immigration-questionnaire-hopefuls-explain-vision-for-migration-policy-ahead-of-debate/

WOW! That picture of Christie looks as though it ws taken in college

The Gentle Grizzly | August 22, 2023 at 6:08 pm

I will not be watching.

    We watch, so you don’t have to! 😛

      Telemachus in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 22, 2023 at 6:35 pm

      Thank you, Fuzzy. I’ll wait for the highlights. And besides, I’ve already made my voting decision, primary and general.

        Heh, no problem! I have made my primary decision (obviously), but I have not yet made my general. There is no way on this earth that I would ever ever vote for Nikki Haley, for example. I cannot stand her. Not for a minute. Would I vote for Biden (Newsom)? Oh, hell to the no, but to my mind, Haley is worse than them. Well, worse than Newsom, anyway. She is an appeaser, a weak, whiny nothing of a grasping pol who doesn’t know what she thinks or believes until the day’s polls are released. She makes me sick to my freaking stomach.

        Happily, she has about zero chance of winning the GOP primary. I don’t really feel much pressure when it comes to my vote (this time, anyway. In 2016 things were dicey here in Florida, and as I told you guys when I came back from voting on Election Day, I did vote for Trump in the end–or rather, against Hillary). By the time 2020 rolled around, I had my first-ever political merch (a cute pink Trump ball-cap) and was happy (even eager) to vote for Trump. That didn’t work out so great, but he did win my state both times. So ultimately, how I vote doesn’t matter; Florida will elect the GOP nominee (unless it’s someone like Haley or Asa or Christie, then all bets are off).

      Does LI give you hazardous doody pay?

8 losers

I’d watch, but I have to wash my hair. Seriously, it may help some of the end-of-line candidates to get a little exposure, but I’ve never heard or seen anything at a non-debate like this to influence me in any way.

    henrybowman in reply to txvet2. | August 22, 2023 at 8:38 pm

    I have, but it was the other side’s debate.
    It was the part where the “moderator” asked who favored giving illegal immigrants free healthcare, and every single mommafracker on stage raised a hand.

1 candidate, 2 also ran’s (could be options of last resort), and 5 that would have been more productive feeding the hungry with the loads of cash they are basically burning.

As far as Who’s Who, I leave that up to you.

Got to love the disrespect for President Trump on this blog

Notice who gets acknowledgment of their credentials and who does not

Kind of disrespectful wouldn’t you say?

he debate has eight candidates:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina
Vivek Ramaswamy
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
Former Vice President Mike Pence
Larry Elder, Perry Johnson, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez did not make the stage.

Trump did not sign the pledge to support the Republican presidential nominee.

    The Gentle Grizzly in reply to gonzotx. | August 22, 2023 at 6:28 pm

    “Got to love the disrespect for President Trump on this blog.”

    Will we be stretched on the rack, flogged, or drawn and quartered for our sins, Your Majesty?

      You know it’s disrespectful and on purpose

      Maybe it’s time to trim your beard, it’s interfering with your brain cells

        Okay, I’m waiting for the barrage of the perpetually outraged commenters to descend on gonzo for her rudeness here.

        I’m not holding my breath, of course, since the people who collapse on the nearest fainting couches at the slightest suggestion of “rudeness” or “condescension” never have anything to say when their fellow Only Trumpers are ten times more rude, condescending, and disgusting.

        In the meantime, gonzo, my guess is that your and Grizz’s combined IQ is somewhere around 180, with yours barely breaking into double digits.

          ChrisPeters in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 22, 2023 at 7:35 pm

          I still live by the “Sticks and Stones” doctrine, so a few harsh words are no big deal.

          Lying or making incorrect claims, on the other hand, is a different matter.

          Oh, gonzo does both of those. Often. I correct those, too. It doesn’t make sense to let attacks on our LI family go any more than it makes sense to allow gonzo (and her fellow mob of Only Trumpers) lie about DeSantis (or whomever the next candidate to receive Trump Train friendly fire–and by “friendly,” I of course mean accusing a fellow Republican rival’s father of assassinating an American president. So FUN!).

          JohnSmith100 in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 22, 2023 at 9:23 pm

          It seems to me that Fuzzy is going overboard. I support Trump because I think he is the only player on the board who has any chance of taking on Deep State. My opinion is that without Trump Deep State will consolidate their power and it would take a revolution to root them out.

          When I was in my 20’s I was given a battery of IQ tests, and scored over 170. Age is taking it’s toll, in that I am having trouble with short to long term memory transfer, but what is learned at a rate 1.7 times faster than normal is all still there, another 10 years that may not be the case.

          Your are characterizing Trump supporters as being too hard on you, My career was highly adversarial. I have handled your comments so gently compared to what I am capable of. Surely you don’t expect us to just roll over?

          Azathoth in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 23, 2023 at 9:47 am

          Wait, you’re suggesting that this–

          “Maybe it’s time to trim your beard, it’s interfering with your brain cells”

          –is rude? So incredibly rude that it warrants us chiding her?

          Are you kidding?

          You and yours routinely refer to Trump supporters as if they’re cultists, using openly derogatory terms. And we and ours happily reciprocate, and even instigate.

          And you’re suggesting that this–

          “Maybe it’s time to trim your beard, it’s interfering with your brain cells”

          is beyond the pale?

          Jeez, yesterday txvet told me to go f myself for poking him, which you approved of.

          And you’re on about this–“Maybe it’s time to trim your beard, it’s interfering with your brain cells”?

          “I’m not holding my breath, of course, since the people who collapse on the nearest fainting couches at the slightest suggestion of “rudeness” or “condescension” never have anything to say when their fellow Only Trumpers are ten times more rude, condescending, and disgusting.”

          Kettle, meet pot.

          Azaroth said: “”Jeez, yesterday txvet told me to go f myself””

          For calling me a “leftist” – obviously, the worst insult your little brain could imagine. But the fact is, you’re the one who’s just like a leftist – zero to victim in 3 seconds flat. 😂

          Exactly. We have all been there and done that. He’s whining about something you said in response to HIS unprovoked attack, something you had every right to say considering he came out of nowhere to attack you when you weren’t talking to or about him (or even about his godlet).

          It’s one thing to defend yourself and quite another to go around firebombing just for the sake of it.

      2 dits 4 dits 2 dits dah
      if your the GG I think you are
      you will remember that ….

        jqusnr in reply to jqusnr. | August 23, 2023 at 10:51 am

        corrected to read .. I forgot it shush.

        3 dits 4 dits 2 dits dah
        GG where u in the navy
        stationed in Hanza.

    CommoChief in reply to gonzotx. | August 22, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    Maybe they reserved using the titles for those who will be debating?

      gonzotx in reply to CommoChief. | August 22, 2023 at 6:58 pm

      Oh please, they do it constantly and these debates are worthless

      Absolutely worthless

      But watch “little. d “ shine

      Probably got the questions ahead of time

      Is Donna Brazil been seen lately?

        CommoChief in reply to gonzotx. | August 22, 2023 at 7:14 pm

        gonzotx,

        Just an observation but you’ve had more dick (dick/little d) in and out your mouth the last two weeks than the average Nevada road whore.

          Oh, that’s darn funny.

          txvet2 in reply to CommoChief. | August 22, 2023 at 8:12 pm

          Now, that’s not nice. Wow. I’m tough with Gonzo, but that’s pretty rough, especially in light of Fuzzie’s comment above.

          CommoChief in reply to CommoChief. | August 22, 2023 at 8:47 pm

          I am almost always nice ….until it’s time to not be nice and I reserve the right to decide the time. Learned that from Roadhouse!

          Either gutter/low brow humor is acceptable here or it isn’t. Lately it seems like it’s become acceptable. I am a bit tired of unilaterally choosing to self censor my sarcasm and smart ass turn of mind when others won’t.

          Telemachus in reply to CommoChief. | August 22, 2023 at 9:47 pm

          Gonzo 💋Trump. Spit or swallow?

          gonzotx in reply to CommoChief. | August 22, 2023 at 10:02 pm

          He is a sick, clearly and that’s a mild degradation

          But whore, well your really are
          Special, always trying to act as if your the great arbiter

          Doesn’t take much sunlight to see what you really are made of

          gonzotx in reply to CommoChief. | August 22, 2023 at 10:10 pm

          Well,
          Yours is probably minuscule so not really worth my effort

          Most people who use the tittle Chief have very little ones

          Funny how little men always fall to the dick/ penis jokes cause

          1.) they got nothing else

          2.) I mean the got NOTHING

          You’ve been a gentleman throughout. It’s a hard thing, but she earned it.

          CommoChief in reply to CommoChief. | August 23, 2023 at 7:50 am

          gonzotx,

          You do remember that you began the dick/little d line of comments don’t you? I didn’t begin the deluge of dick jokes, you did. The common tactic of lefty feminists when they attempt to bite off more than they can handle is to play the victim.

          Nobody is buying your innocent and aggrieved victim act. Especially you lie about that observable fact while also making false claims against men in general and me in particular. I understand why you do it, it’s nearly instinctual for leftists to bully and make false accusations.

          You probably learned by kneeling at the feet of Trump like so many others on their knees in front of him. Maybe it’s just leftover memories of your glory days as a self admitted bra burning Feminist when you decided on misandry as your lode star which according to you only ended in ’16 when you fell head over heels for Trump.

        Tiki in reply to gonzotx. | August 22, 2023 at 7:35 pm

        The debates are not worthless. Opportunity and Doom go hand in hand.

        The Dean Scream was only a campaign rally speech, yet it doomed him. (doesn’t seem like much nowadays)

        Rick Perry’s brain lapse during a primary debate. Doom.

        I’m hoping (most of the candidates go down in flames – like a NASCAR pileup. That’s my motivation.

          Agreed. Skipping this debate kind of makes no sense and will set off undecided or otherwise “gettable” voters’ spidey sense. When was the last time someone hid in their basement and didn’t dare speak in public and answer tough questions? Oh, right, Biden. And that got us what?

          There’s also that air of laziness, arrogance, and entitlement that will surely tick off a lot of (formerly potential Trump) voters. Taking us for granted is the exact reason we hate DC, and here is Trump, taking us (well, them) for granted. But they don’t see it.

          I think the Only Trumpers are just as deluded as the weirdo Democrats who complained that 2016 was stolen because they didn’t know anyone who didn’t support Hillary. EVERYONE THEY KNEW and interacted with online LOVED her; she couldn’t have lost. Classic scream shot of the unhinged Hillary supporter learning that Trump won. Normal people laughed, scoffed even.

          Living in a bubble seriously distorts your worldview, but they didn’t get it then, and really, they don’t get it now. There are leftists still insisting Trump’s presidency didn’t happen and that Hillary was the “real president” until Biden took office. It takes a special kind of stupid to get sucked into that level of crazy, but there are plenty of stupid people on both the left and the right.

          Trump counts on that. He feeds it. His base, at this point, is an inch wide but a mile deep. He keeps digging that deep mile, tossing red meat at the base to keep them engaged, but every single chunk of bleeding flesh he tosses at these die-hard Trump cultists, loses him voters who had previously voted for him at least once (maybe twice).

          I have no idea why someone who has already been president is running like an outsider know-nothing, knee-jerk novice, but it is extremely off-putting to see Trump romping around like it’s still 2016. He looks gormless and clueless, and every romp, every “troll,” looks cheap and like a retread.

          He’s that aging rock star you loved in your youth. You turn up for his farewell tour, and he’s bald, has no teeth, can’t remember the words, and forgot to zip his now-moldy jeans. You don’t want to see this; it’s sad. It’s heart-breaking. But there your once hero is doddering around on a stage, blinking confusedly into the lights, and forgetting the words to a song he’s sung a million times. His bony little arms reveal tats that have long collapsed into a black block on sagging skin. Do you want this guy, THIS GUY, this depleted, aged person to croak out that song you loved in your youth? Or would you rather he just sat down in his wheelchair and gummed his vanilla wafers while you listened to the original recording on Spotify?

          CommoChief in reply to Tiki. | August 22, 2023 at 8:57 pm

          Disagree. Trump is wise to skip this week’s debate due to number of folks on the Stage. Maybe even a second debate as well. Likely to less crowded in future debates as qualification thresholds rise and those he should attend.

          He’s trying to make a point to the RNC and more importantly to his core MAGADONIANS by demonstrating his ‘independence’; though how he does that while remaining a candidate for the GoP nomination is baffling but his MAGADONIANS are eating it up.

          The problem is he will eventually need to get onto the debate stage and will have to climb down to do so n/c he said he wouldn’t participate in debates (plural) and wouldn’t sign the commitment to support the eventual nominee of the GoP.

          The other issue is if the locals at the debate locations or States hosting them feel slighted and hold a grudge. Won’t be a huge number or % but in a purple State separated by less than a point in the last election then 15K or 20K voters PO over this makes an impact. Perhaps decisively so.

      txvet2 in reply to CommoChief. | August 22, 2023 at 8:58 pm

      That kind of response is personally beyond my limits, but to each his own. I’d probably not comment on it at all if Fuzzy hadn’t sprung to my defense over much milder criticism earlier.

    henrybowman in reply to gonzotx. | August 22, 2023 at 8:40 pm

    I would rather have heard from Larry Elder than the entire bottom half of that list.

Larry Elder is locked out. There’s no reason for it other than limiting our democratic choice.

    Agreed. He apparently met the criteria. So apparently did Perry Johnson. The powers that be are corrupt. Let’s hear from these people.

      They even admitted that he met the criteria, but then they pulled a magical rule out of their ass that Rasmussen was ‘Trump-aligned’, so couldn’t be used to qualify him for the debate.

      Never mind that Rasmussen has been the most accurate polling firm for decades before Trump ever came along.

      Now, I don’t see the value in adding yet another also-ran to the mix, but if you’re going to put trash like Hutchison and Christie on the stage, then excluding Elder is very telling.

    The Gentle Grizzly in reply to Tiki. | August 22, 2023 at 7:17 pm

    I thought it was Ray Sizim?

The ‘pledge’ is toilet paper.

Asa Hutchison has already PUBLICLY said he’s not supporting Trump, even if he’s the nominee, despite signing their sacred ‘pledge’.

So who cares if Trump has signed it or not, when people that HAVE signed it are already publicly saying it doesn’t matter?

    gonzotx in reply to Olinser. | August 22, 2023 at 7:13 pm

    Only PRESIDENT TRUMP is held to anything and everything

    Everyone else gets to say and do anything, even commit real treason and probably murder

    But even the legal minds here don’t seem to see the math

    President Trump

    2+2 =4

    Everyone else

    2+2 = anything they want

    Azathoth in reply to Olinser. | August 23, 2023 at 9:59 am

    The loyalty oath has been ripped to shreds, people who qualified have been denied access –it’s pretty clear who’s behind this ‘debate’

    The same minds that created ‘superdelegates’ that returned control to party elites with the Dems.

    This is a debate the uniparty wants to steer.

    The best outcome for us all now, is for that curtain to go up on a stage without Ramaswamy or DeSantis on it. The rest can do as they please, they matter not at all.

It’s too bad the whole process has become reality TV. The anticipation of the gotcha moment, who slams, destroys, etc. You get the picture. The game players are salivating. Another spectacle, even without Trump. It’s too bad they did not pair them with dancers and required a Paso Doble. Maybe better, the Jive. What a waste.

TV. Is that still a thing? (Nearly twenty years cable-free and lovin’ it.)

Gonzotx: Give it a rest.

Everybody else: It doesn’t matter who the Republican candidate is. The left has already stolen the election, mostly by illegally forcing through heavily biased voting rule changes.

    txvet2 in reply to Rusty Bill. | August 22, 2023 at 8:54 pm

    “”heavily biased””

    And in some cases, still blatantly illegal….

    I’ve said the same thing, but the response is always “well, do you think we should stop fighting?”, to which I reply, no, but understand that in the end, like the guys at the Alamo, you’re dead, even though you might advance the overall cause. It’s likely that, given the amount of cheating we all expect, all the people on the stage are electorally dead, along with Trump – but they may somehow contribute to victory for some future candidate whose name we don’t yet know. Won’t make any difference to me; I’ll be gone by then, but I still have great-grandchildren who’ll be forced to live with the result. Pie in the sky, but what else have we got? Revolution? Insurrection? That’s the end of our Constitutional Republic just as much as the left managing to end any semblance of honest elections.

    gonzotx in reply to Rusty Bill. | August 22, 2023 at 10:05 pm

    No time to rest, the wicked are out in force

    jqusnr in reply to Rusty Bill. | August 23, 2023 at 10:45 am

    yup … King Biteme. will get 100 million votes this time …
    they are already printed off and in a warehouse …

Tiki in reply to CommoChief. | August 22, 2023 at 10:16 pm
You’ve been a gentleman throughout. It’s a hard thing, but she earned it.

A gentleman?

Id like to see things from your point of view, but I can’t stick my head up my ass that far.

Bucky Barkingham | August 23, 2023 at 8:06 am

The “also rans” debate.

I may watch to hear Vivek and maybe Ron DeSantis. The rest of them aren’t worth my time, especially Pence. Maybe he will bomb in the debate and realize he isn’t a serious contender. Of course, he’s probably the RINO wings choice.

I will watch.

I suspect the ‘debate’ will be similar to what we see here –slam Trump, disparage voters,

And they will offer up the barest minimum of ideas because it is not the place for ideas.

I will also watch Tucker. And I hope he goes in guns blazing–we don’t need softballs.

Capitalist-Dad | August 23, 2023 at 10:37 am

Nothing intelligent can come from this bread and circuses event. Too many clowns means substance gets crowded out. Get back to me when the field is down to two or three.

The establishment Republican party, which is putting on the Fox event, is a walking corpse. Tonight’s theatrical production will be an irrelevant distraction – canned talking points. Feigned compassion and indignancy, along with examples of the actors’ competence and experience in working the swamp system. It’s truly sad that such a large percentage of Americans still subject themselves daily to the CIA propaganda spewed by the nightly TV and 24/7 cable news.

I know who I am voting for in the primary

the general … don’t know … I know who
I am not going to vote for
won’t vote for DeSantis he is IMHO
a member of the Bush wing the of GOP
not a fan … I could see my self voting for
Trump or if he isn’t the nominee
then Scott..

I’m planning to vote in the R presidential primary and in the general election.
Many dead or phantom voters are “planning” to join in for the latter. Will the R’s put a stop to this or just waste my time?

they are going to waste everyones time they don’t care … they get invites to the right dinner parties … seats on boards when the leave office … why care …
they got theirs ….

Before the debate starts, Tim Scott may come out a winner if he avoids the fray. In any event, better to dump on Biden and the Democrats rather than each other. Hope they will not take the bait, and try to avoid the script as much as possible.