Former New York Gov. George Pataki
Back in early August, there were seven people on stage for the second-tier Republican presidential debate. This time, there are only four: Carly Fiorina has been promoted to the big show, Rick Perry has dropped out, and Jim Gilmore could not muster the one percent support in any three polls required to qualify for the kiddie table. That leaves:
Rick Santorum
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
George Pataki
Sen. Lindsey Graham
Not exactly a fountain of charisma, there.
Both of the evening's debates will air on CNN and stream on CNN.com. The varsity team will take the stage at 8:00 PM ET.
4:42 PM PT (Barbara Morrill): Last question of the night (at the kid's table): "What's the one thing you offer that none of the candidates in the next debate has?"
4:46 PM PT (Barbara Morrill): Answers to that last question, in order: Pataki is going to win, Santorum once made things happen, hates abortion and it seems, the Republican Party (we finally agree), Jindal is a "doer," but Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts so vote for him and Graham will kill mooslims with boots on the ground.
4:51 PM PT (Joan McCarter): This is a very establishment type audience, so it's not too surprising that Graham got a lot of applause. The room was mostly his, so it's not surprising that he wasn't just angry war-mongering Graham, but funny war-mongering Graham. It'll be interesting to see how this crowd reacts to Trump.
5:09 PM PT (Joan McCarter):