If he can't play with the big kids, Rand says he'll take his bat & ball and go home.
Source: Politico
Rand Paul will not accept being relegated to an undercard debate, the Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate said Wednesday.
“I won’t participate in any kind of second-tier debate,” Paul declared in a radio interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade.
Paul talked up his “first-tier” campaign, touting the size of his operation in Iowa and the millions of dollars he’s raised. “I’m not gonna let any network or anybody tell me we’re not a first-tier campaign,” Paul said. “If you tell a campaign with three weeks to go that they are in the second tier, you destroy the campaign.”
The Kentucky senator was responding to the news that only six candidates are likely to make Fox Business Network’s main debate stage in South Carolina on Thursday, Jan. 14. According to the debate criteria and current poll numbers — the main debate will feature the top six candidates based on national polling and the top five based on an average of Iowa and New Hampshire polls — Paul, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina could be relegated to the happy hour debate.
