Fox News
announced the 10 Republican presidential candidates who will make the prime-time, real deal first debate on Thursday, and there were no real surprises ... based on the last few days. Plenty of earlier assumptions were thrown right out the window. The line-up, in order of polling:
Donald Trump
Jeb Bush
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
Mike Huckabee
Ben Carson
Sen. Ted Cruz
Sen. Marco Rubio
Sen. Rand Paul
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
Ohio Gov. John Kasich
No surprises from the last week or so of polling, but a lot that defies strong expectations from not so very long ago. Kasich's quick rise past Rick Perry after a late entry into the race is newsworthy—Perry will be in the second-tier debate earlier in the evening. Rand Paul was supposed to be doing better than eighth place. Marco Rubio was supposed to be doing a lot better than seventh—shoot, he was supposed to be the GOP's boy savior.
And Donald Trump. Remember when Trump said he was running for president, and the media assured us he'd never file the needed paperwork to be an official candidate? And then he did. Remember how then, the media assured us his popularity was just a blip, a bubble that would burst within a matter of days? And then he rose to the top of the polls. Remember how his poll numbers were definitely going to crash because he said mean things about John McCain? About that.
There's no telling what other surprises this debate has in store for us.