https://ricochet.com/gop-presidential-primary-bracket/GOP Presidential Primary Bracket
Jon Gabriel, Ed.
May 18, 2015 at 4:02 pm
RNC officials are getting nervous about the presidential primary debates. It’s not that the party lacks good candidates, but that it has so many. To date six GOP hopefuls have announced, four have leaked that they will announce, and six have launched exploratory committees. Even more names are being tossed around in the news, prompting Republican officials to hint at limiting the number of debate participants:
A broad consensus is beginning to take hold among Republican party officials that the presidential primary debates shouldn’t include any more than a dozen candidates — despite the fact that there might be as many as 19 declared candidates by the time the primary debates start this August.
Though the precise criteria for debate participation ultimately will be decided by the networks staging them — and party leaders continue to insist nothing has been finalized — there is behind-the-scenes agreement here at the Republican National Committee spring meeting that the first debates should be capped at 12 candidates.
“Our goal is to accommodate as many candidates as possible at the beginning,” said Steve Duprey, the New Hampshire committeeman who chairs the RNC’s 2016 debate committee. “I think there’s consensus to cap it between nine and 12. And we may not need more than that, depending on how the contest goes. Each of the media partners may have different criteria and they’re going to evolve.”
Any excluded candidate would raise holy hell at this slight, even if his popularity droops somewhere between Jon Huntsman and a kidney stone. But unless debate organizers install bleachers, you aren’t going to fit 19 candidates on one stage.
I thought of a few ways to handle this challenge — a dance-off, Survivor-style reality show, Thunderdome — but all seemed too impractical (or gory). The only way we can thin the herd is to engage in some bracketology. I’ve used a bracket for another political issue, but in this case it could actually get results:
The set-up is similar to the NCAA basketball tournament, but it starts with the Sweet Sixteen. Every candidate is seeded via the RealClearPolitics polling average and is matched up accordingly. Round One would feature eight half-hour debates, Round Two would have four 45 min. debates, and blammo, you’re down to four candidates. You can stop there, or keep it going for two more rounds to figure out the primary winner.
I filled out my own version, not necessarily with who I think will win each match-up, but with who I’d prefer to win (see right). It[float=right]
[/float] was a clarifying exercise on my own priorities, but my only big upset was Jindal besting Bush.
Download a PDF version of the GOP Presidential Primary Bracket here and let me know your picks in the comments.
