Next GOP debate might not have a ‘kiddie table’

That means serious trouble for the several campaigns that have struggled to catch fire and lack public support in both national and early primary state polls.

On Thursday, Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer said the Republican National Committee will be coordinating with CNBC on the next debate, planned for Oct. 28, and that there likely won’t be a second-tier debate for candidates down in the polls.

“I doubt there will be an undercard,” Spicer said on CNN. “I think that the criteria will still be going forward — CNBC has yet to publish it. We’ll be talking to them in the coming days.”

In the last two debates, hosted separately by Fox News and CNN, the events were split in two parts. One featured the candidates polling within the top 10 or 11 of an average of national polls and the second had the remaining few candidates who registered with at least some national support.

On Wednesday, CNN’s second-tier debate featured just four candidates: Lindsey Graham, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal and George Pataki. None managed to have a breakout moment that garnered much attention from the national press.

Fox News’ undercard debate in early August had six candidates, but one of them, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, has since dropped out of the race.

Referring to Perry, Spicer said it’s possible other candidates will drop out of the race before the CNBC debate and that a second-tier event would become more like an interview than a debate between candidates.

Asked if that would mean more candidates on a single stage for the next debate, Spicer seemed to suggest that would be unlikely.

“I think it looked like a pretty crowded stage last night,” he said. “But we had plenty of time for everyone to get their position across. But I think 11 — there was lack of elbow room at the table.”

A spokeswoman for CNBC told the Washington Examiner media desk that details on the network’s debate have not yet been finalized.