Rules change for CNN debate
Carly Fiorina fights to be a part of Sept. 16 Republican debate in California
Could the possibility of getting left out of the second Republican presidential primary debate stop Carly Fiorina’s campaign? Only if she lets it.
Debate — Carly Fiorina became a strong contender after the first debates. Google Images
The initial rules for the Sept. 16 debate on CNN permitted only the top 10 Republican candidates in an average of polls from July 16 – Sept. 10 to participate in the debate, cutting Fiorina out. However, Fiorina “waged a public campaign skewering CNN and the Republican National Committee for selection rules she argued might keep her off the next presidential debate’s main stage, even as she was rising in the polls,” according to a Washington Times article. After 10 days of private negotiations, Republican National Commitee Chairman Reince Priebus announced that they would revise the qualifications to include candidates who had reached the top 10 in polling during a shorter timespan, from Aug. 6 – Sept. 10, which would include Fiorina, according to the Washington Times.
A strong performance in the Aug. 6 debate helped Fiorina rise in the polls, but it was not enough to qualify her for the Sept. 16 debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The original rule would have also excluded other candidates besides Fiorina, but it would have slowed her down just as she was gaining steam. Any of the candidates who also failed to meet the requirements could have complained to the RNC had they desired to, but Fiorina expressed her outrage because she was so close to being in the top 10. As a candidate gained popularity among Republicans, it was a smart move for CNN to rethink their previous rules in order to give the audience members the candidates they desired to hear in the debate.
The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard could have let the rules stand and miss her chance for another debate with perhaps the most eclectic group of Republican candidates in American history, among them another CEO and a neurosurgeon. Instead she fought back against rules she thought of as unfair. Showing America that she is willing to fight back can help her in the polls because Americans do not want a president who will merely sit back and watch as the economy, social issues and foreign politics slowly destroy America only to do nothing to fight back and stop it. If Fiorina is determined to make her voice heard in a debate, then voters can expect her to fight for America if she
becomes president.
Had Fiornia not fought back, she would have been sending another message to voters. If she is unable to fight for an opportunity to voice her beliefs, can Republicans be sure that she would even fight for those beliefs if elected president? America’s eyes focus on the president to see what he or she will do during adversity, expecting him or her to act. Had Fiorina not fought back for her spot in the debate, voters could easily have concluded that if Fiorina were president during a time of adversity, she would do nothing.
Fiorina is a rising star in the Republican Party and deserves to have the chance to challenge the other candidates in the debate.
Depiero is an opinion writer.