Rasmussen: Trump Should Be Front and Center at GOP Debate (Trump 26%, Walker 14%)

As the first Republican debate for the primary season is quickly approaching, Rasmussen Reports says that businessman Donald Trump, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are guaranteed seats on the A-stage on Aug. 6.

Rasmussen's first national survey of likely Republican voters shows that Trump is ahead with 26 percent support, while Walker is in second with 14 percent and Bush has 10 percent of the vote — making them the top three leaders.

While there are 13 remaining major Republican candidates, Fox News is only opening the Aug. 6 debate to the top 10 as determined by the best numbers in leading polls.

Rasmussen Reports says the rest of the A-stage debate field is "a lot murkier," but six candidates stand out:

I don’t know what you think about this, but it is a good bet that more than half the field will be gone by South Carolina. Florida will winnow it down further, to the leading three, who can still financially sustain a continuing campaign.

These are just my views from last time around, back when the Establishment owned outcomes. This time they own nuttin’ much. It’s a paradigm shift from then to now, as to whom it is that’s running this election cycle.

Am I the only one who fails to grasp the logic of these candidates attending this “debate”? First of all, it's not actually a debate but rather a candidate's forum, put together by one of the most anti-Republican networks in existence. Do any of the potential nominees think that they are NOT going to be subjected to “gotcha” type questions, designed to disparage the two or three front runners? It's way too early to worry about building momentum with a primary season that's still almost eight months away. And what can they talk about besides how much better they each are than each of the other “debaters”? It's almost impossible to keep from letting some criticism about the others slip out which will probably release any inhibitions the others might feel about talking down about their fellow Republicans. To me, it's such an obvious set-up that I'm stupefied that any of these candidates would even think of participating.

The only way I can imagine this not turning into a disaster for at least some of them was if they all surreptitiously got together beforehand and set up some ground rules to prevent the chaos and embarrassment NBC is undoubtedly hoping for. I certainly hope I'm proven wrong but we've all been burned over the last few decades by seemingly intelligent, experienced men and women walking blindly past gigantic warning signs into a minefield they should have known better to avoid.

This is a Republican National Committee debate, with media exposure by Fox News Channel. Facebook is also a sponsor.

Anyone in the early states has seen or can see hours of these candidates in all kinds of interviews and forums.

The ‘debates’ are just a kind of reality show. Little or no information will be forthcoming.

The NBC debate will be at the end of February.

While I am having fun watching the scrum, unless you live in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina getting emotionally attached to any of the candidates is kind of futile. Those three primaries will winnow the field down to maybe the top three or four. While I like Cruz, I am not investing much energy in this until March. I sent Cruz a little money, that’s it.

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