Fox News Leaves Many Questions Unanswered Over Debate

With just five days left until the first primary debate on Fox News all eyes are on the network. The Republican presidential debate is set for Thursday August 6th in Cleveland. However, the network has left a great deal unsaid up to now.

The cable network to date has not revealed which polls it is using to decide the top 10 candidates of the 17 running for the Republicans. Those not earnings a spot amongst the 10, will be part of an event that will take place at 5 p.m. with the main event taking place at 9 p.m.

The polling issue is one topic that is attracting attention from many campaign operatives as well as political observers.

People are obsessing over things such as what the positioning will be of the 10 candidates as the center usually holds a much better advantage over the edges. They are wondering whether there will be an effort made to give equal airtime to all 10 in the debate. Others have wondered if the three moderators will make sure control is kept in an event that could easily turn into chaos.

Then of course, there is Donald Trump. When he entered the race June 16 skeptics though the businessman would struggle to even make the top 10 but he is now the debate’s focal point, not just because of the way he has created controversy with his remarks but because he leads the national polls for Republicans.

Primary debates usually do not have those negotiated conditions, which apply to the debates for the general election.

The network has much of the control, during the primary debate and much more so in the case of this debate.

The one rule, which matters most of all, is who will be amongst the 10 in the debate. The criteria are that the candidates are amongst the top 10 of an average of 5 top national polls with the cutoff of 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday august 4.

However, unlike with CNN, which is hosting the second debate during September, Fox has not released the polling organizations it is using to calculate the average.

It has only stated that the polls should be carried out by nationally recognized major organizations that use methodological techniques.