CNN announced Tuesday that it would amend the criteria for picking candidates for the next Republican debate, scheduled for Sept. 16. The move followed criticism from supporters of Carly Fiorina and others that she was being unfairly excluded.
In a statement, CNN said it would allow onto the stage any candidate who placed among the top 10 in an average of network-approved polls released from Aug. 7 to Sept. 10, whether or not they placed among the top 10 in an average of polls going back to mid-July, which was the previous metric. The reason: So few new national polls are being taken between the Republicans’ first presidential debate and the planned September debate that the current formula would have heavily weighted polls taken in July and early August.
“In a world where we expected there to be at least 15 national polls, based on historic precedent, it appears there will be only five,” CNN said. “As a result, we now believe we should adjust the criteria to ensure the next debate best reflects the most current state of the national race.”
The switch effectively helps candidates who have moved up in the polls since the first Republican debate — chiefly Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard executive, whose performance in Cleveland’s non-prime-time debate impressed some donors and conservative leaders.
The move makes it likely that Fiorina, who was in eighth place in a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday, will join Donald J. Trump, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and others on the debate stage this month, potentially a major boon for her name recognition and fundraising.
The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, said in a statement that he was pleased with the change.
“I applaud CNN for recognizing the historic nature of this debate and fully support the network’s decision to amend their criteria,” Priebus said.
Aides to Fiorina exulted over the news, suggesting that a fearful political establishment determined to exclude the businesswoman had been overcome by a national outcry from conservatives.
“We’re so grateful to the thousands of grass-roots supporters and conservative activists around the country who weren’t afraid to take on the political establishment and challenge the status quo to make this happen,” Sarah Isgur Flores, her deputy campaign manager, said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, the campaign sent an open letter to Jeff Zucker, CNN’s president, signed by dozens of Fiorina’s supporters, including some elected Republicans and local party officials, demanding her inclusion.
“A transparent effort by your network to benefit candidates from and of the political establishment will not be acceptable to conservative grass-roots voters,” the letter read, accusing Zucker’s network of “inappropriately influencing our primary process.” (In fact, CNN had originally announced its protocols for picking candidates for the debate in May, when Fiorina was merely a blip in many polls.)
The decision was also hailed by Ben Carson, a surgeon-turned-candidate who like Fiorina has surged in some recent polls. Carson urged CNN to go further, expanding the prime-time debate to include all Republican candidates.
“I would add that I urge CNN to revise their format to include all other candidates in the prime time debate as well,” Carson said.