Politico is reporting tonight that CNN has decided to tweak its eligibility rules for the September 16 debate in a manner that will ensure Carly Fiorina’s eligibility.
According to CNN, any candidate who ranks in the top 10 between Aug. 6 and Sept. 10 will be included in the primetime debate on Sept. 16. Also allowed in the main show will be candidates who scored in the top 10 averages of all approved national polls between July 16 and Sept. 10, as the original criteria released in May stated. This means it is possible there will be more than 10 candidates on the primetime debate stage.
The new approach allows the network to avoid looking like it’s favoring Fiorina at the expense of candidates such as Chris Christie and Rand Paul who would have been at risk of getting bumped to the earlier debate if CNN had more heavily weighted later polls, as Fiorina had suggested.
Which probably means that, like Nigel Tufnel’s amp, CNN’s debate will “go to 11.”