Yesterday, I posted about the Republican presidential field, and at that time there were 16 candidates -- Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Carly Fiorina, George Pataki, John Kasich, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Leslie Graham, and Donald Trump. That large number means at least six would be left out of the first debate to be aired next month on Fox News.But overnight, that post was outdated. On Wednesday, a 17th candidate jumped into the Republican race for the presidential nomination. Jim Gilmore (pictured above in a photo from npr.org), the Republican ex-governor from Virginia, announced that he is running for president. Gilmore said the other Republican candidates have not addressed "the vital national security and economic concerns facing the nation".
That now means that 7 out of the 17 GOP candidates (or 41.2%) will not be allowed to participate in the first debate. That doesn't sound like a very fair way to run a campaign to me, but the RNC seems happy to let Fox News be the gatekeeper for their presidential race.
