When Republican presidential campaigns met last weekend to talk about changing the structure of debates, there was one issue they could not discuss without destroying their chances of reaching agreement. That issue was that there are too many candidates in this race. Many of those refusing to give up have public support so low that they should be regarded as rounding errors.
It is time to raise the threshold for participation in debates.
A little-mentioned factor that contributed to the debacle that was the CNBC debate is that there were too many candidates on the stage. Several were taking up space and time and have no chance of being the nominee. Some should follow the example of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and quit with their dignity intact.
Even with the best of questioners, it’s hard to manage 10 type-A personalities and make sure they get equal time to answer questions and rebut one another. It’s impossible to meet candidate demands for opening and closing statements without wasting 20 minutes of valuable time that should be used for substantive questions instead.
Voters have had a chance to see all of the candidates, even Jim Gilmore, and even if they have not made their final choice, they’ve narrowed down the number whom they are taking seriously. As time goes by, less is more.
No one can be forced to drop out, but the rules should start nudging people toward the exits a bit faster. It makes sense for the polling threshold to be low in the first debate or two, but now it should ratchet higher, and those who fall below the higher cut should expect to be in the undercard debates. That way, primary voters could be given the chance to hear more from those candidates actually in contention.
The threshold for next Tuesday’s debate is 2.5 percent in the polls, which will likely result in nine people on stage. A 5 percent threshold would probably cut that to a manageable and watchable five or six.
Ideally, no forcible culling of the herd would be necessary. Ideally, a few candidates would see the writing on the wall and bow out gracefully. But everyone can see that the debate series is not ideal either for the party or voters. Since it’s not ideal, indeed far from it, it needs to be improved. And raising the bar is the fairest way to do so.
