August 6 will feature dueling Republican debates as infighting escalates

August 6 will feature dueling Republican debates as infighting escalates

by Laura Clawson at the Daily Kos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/11/1392425/-August-6-will-feature-dueling-Republican-debates-as-infighting-escalates

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It's Fox News vs. the sanctity of the "First in the Nation" New Hampshire presidential primary. New Hampshire Republicans see the August 6 primary debate to be held on Fox News as a threat to their state's status as a decider of presidential races, because its rules for inclusion are based entirely on national polling. Now, New Hampshire's (Republican) leading newspaper is diving in, saying it will hold its own presidential forum ... on August 6.

The Union Leader reports that its forum will be televised and broadcast on radio by CSPAN. While Fox News has now added an afternoon forum for candidates who don't qualify for the evening's debate, for a candidate left out of the main Fox debate, going on a CSPAN-broadcast forum sponsored and heavily promoted by New Hampshire's largest newspaper may be an appealing way to curry favor with New Hampshire voters. Especially now that the whole who-gets-to-debate thing is being turned into a dispute over the role of the New Hampshire primary:


"What Fox is attempting to do, and is actually bragging about doing, is a real threat to the first-in-the-nation primary," [Union Leader publisher Joseph W.] McQuaid said. "Fox boasts that it will 'winnow' the field of candidates before New Hampshire gets to do so. That isn't just bad for New Hampshire, it's bad for the presidential selection process by limiting the field to only the best-known few with the biggest bankrolls. Why the RNC and, especially, its New Hampshire representative, Steve Duprey, would defend this and be a party to it is baffling."

Fox News' Chris Wallace, who is to moderate the Cleveland debate, said last week that, "A lot of people would say around the country, we've given Iowa and New Hampshire enough of a role and maybe the nation should play something of a role."



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