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One of the requirements for getting on the stage for the first Republican debate, on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, is getting 40,000 donors. RNC insiders report that a requirement for the second debate, in September in California, will be 50,000 donors. For the third debate, in Alabama in October, it will be 60,000 donors.
Axios is now reporting that both Indian-American candidates, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, have passed the 60,000-donor mark and thus won't be disqualified on that score up through the third debate. They will also have to meet the polling requirements, but the poll window just opened so we don't have the results on that yet.
Other candidates who have a good shot of making at least the first debate are Tim Scott and Chris Christie. Ron DeSantis is sure to make it, as is Donald Trump, but Trump hasn't said if he will be showing up. He has a history of skipping debates.
On the other hand, Asa Hutchinson said that he has 25,000 donors so far, so he is barely halfway there. He could be in big trouble. The same could be true of all the others except Mike Pence, who is likely to meet all the criteria with backing from evangelicals.
A debate with DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy, Scott, Pence, and Christie could actually be interesting. Each one would get roughly 10 minutes of time per hour of debate, enough to actually make an impression. If the number of people on stage makes it to 10 or 12, it just becomes a pointless mess. (V)