The race for the Republican presidential nomination finally seems to be gelling. On Wednesday night candidates will debate at the Reagan Library in California — the first of five scheduled debates over the next five weeks.

They are competing for a nomination that increasingly seems worth having. In July and August President Obama’s job approval has been dropping like a stone. On July 4 the realclearpolitics.com average of recent polls showed it narrowly positive, 47 to 46 percent. On Tuesday it was negative, 43 to 51 percent.

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