NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Two candidates who have been part of each of the prime-time Republican debates so far, Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee, have been demoted to next week’s undercard event because of low national poll numbers, delivering a major blow to their campaigns.
It could be worse – and for George Pataki and Lindsey Graham it was. They won’t appear in either debate Tuesday on Fox Business Network. The cable news channel limited participation in the main event in Milwaukee to just eight candidates and to just four in the earlier debate.
The candidates shut out of the debates accused the news media of taking away the right of voters to decide who would be the nominee. They also revisited questions about using polls with statistically insignificant differences between candidates as a means of elevating some and devaluing others.
“It is ironic that the only veteran in the race is going to be denied a voice the day before Veterans Day,” Graham campaign manager Christian Ferry said in a statement on behalf of the South Carolina senator. “In the end, the biggest loser tonight is the American people and the Republican presidential primary process that has been hijacked by news outlets.”
“The voters – not networks driven by ratings or national polls that are statistically irrelevant – should decide our next president,” said Pataki, a former governor of New York.