America
Bobby Jindal fails to make the cut for first debate
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By Arun KumarWashington, Aug 5
Bobby Jindal failed to make
the cut for Fox News' prime-time first Republican presidential debate on
Thursday with celebrity real estate mogul leading the ten top polling
candidates.
Besides Trump, former Florida governor Jeb Bush,
Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee,
author and neurosurgeon Ben Carson and conservative firebrand Cuban
American Texas senator Ted Cruz made the top six.
They will be
joined on the main stage by Cuban American Florida senator Marco Rubio,
libertarian conservative Kentucky senator and physician Rand Paul, New
Jersey governor Chris Christie and Ohio governor John Kasich.
Finishing
thirteenth, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, 44, a former vice chairman
of the Republican Governors' Association, was relegated to an earlier
forum the same day with the six other candidates lowest in Fox's
selection of polls.
They included former Texas governor Rick
Perry, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, former HP chief
executive Carly Fiorina, South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, former
New York governor George Pataki, and former Virginia governor Jim
Gilmore.
The debate in Cleveland, Ohio, marks the beginning of a
new stage in the Republican nominating contest, where candidates will
match their wits against each other as they try to project how they are
best positioned to take on Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton.
In
an unusual move backed by the Republican National Committee, Fox
decided to rely on national polling data to split the contenders in two
groups.
The decision means Perry, governor of Texas for 14
years, Santorum, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2012, and a sitting
governor like Jindal will be relegated to the lower-tier debate.
There
was no direct comment from Jindal, but Brad Todd, an adviser to the
"super PAC" backing the Indian-American, who has drawn large crowds in
Iowa, said: "The debate's gotten disproportionate attention - the real
race is happening in Iowa and New Hampshire."
Todd according to
the New York Times said his group planned to air a 60-second ad in Iowa
during the debate, one that criticises the forum taking place in
Cleveland.
"The donor class will not pick the nominee, nor will
the establishment in Washington, nor a cable network," he was quoted as
saying. "I think it could have been done better for all concerned.
Fox
News spokeswoman Irena Briganti said the five polls included in Fox's
average were conducted by Bloomberg, CBS News, Fox News, Monmouth
University and Quinnipiac University.
Those five were the most
recent national polls from non-partisan, nationally recognized
organizations, she said, using standard methodology.
The candidates, drawn from an average of five most recent national polls, ranked from first to tenth include:
1.Billionaire businessman Donald Trump
2. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
3. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
4. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
5. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson
6. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas
7. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida
8. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky
9. NJ Gov Chris Christie
10. Ohio Gov. John Kasich