With some of the Republican presidential candidates getting ready to debate in Milwaukee later this month, another candidate announced this week that he will take part in it while a dark horse from the Sunshine State is going all out to get in it.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said he has met the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) polling and fundraising standards to be on the debate stage.
Gov. Doug Burgum, R-ND, former Gov. Chris Christie, R-NJ, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., former UN Amb. and former Gov. Nikki Haley, R-SC, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, and former President Donald Trump have met the debate standards. Trump is not expected to attend the debate which is scheduled for August 23.
Appearing on NewsNation’s On Balance (weeknights, 7 p.m. ET) this week, Pence weighed in on making the debate.
“I’m just really grateful for the thousands of people in nine short weeks that stepped out and supported our campaign and made it possible for us to qualify for the first Republican debate in just a few weeks. For me, I’m looking forward to telling our story on that stage, sharing our vision grounded in my long career in the conservative movement, because one of the things I’ve come to realize, lately and traveling around the country the last two years is that I’m well known, but I’m not known well. I mean, you and I have known each other for a lot of years, you knew me when I was a conservative leader in the Congress, you knew me when I was a conservative governor, but most Americans know me as, as that vice president during those four consequential years, and, and I really do believe it’s going to be an opportunity for me to, to share our story to share our heart, our love for this country, but also, you know, campaigns are about choices. And so we’re going to be taking the opportunity to really draw the contrast between myself other candidates on the stage. And I’m looking forward to being there. I’m counting the days,” said Pence.
In the meantime, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said his campaign has met the fundraising threshold to appear on the debate stage and he is going all out to make sure he is there in Milwaukee.
Chapin Fay with SOS Super PAC, which is backing Suarez, criticized some of the polls which leave the Miami mayor out.
“When Republican voters are asked about Conservative Miami Mayor Francis Suarez they are liking what they’re seeing,” said Fay. “Mayor Suarez’s message of bringing the Miami model to the rest of the country is obviously resonating since 40,000 unique donors have contributed to his campaign.
“But the fact that Mayor Suarez is still being excluded from many polls across the country, is a black mark on the process, especially now that he has hit the fundraising threshold and is the only Hispanic candidate running. All candidates that have met the fundraising threshold should be included in any poll that the RNC is going to count as qualifying,” Fay added. “In a recent poll in NH, ‘Somebody Else’ and ‘Undecided’ polled at a combined 16 percent. That is 16 percent of Republican primary voters looking for someone else to vote for. Not offering them a full choice of all the candidates running who have qualified for the fundraising threshold, is doing a disservice to Republicans across the nation.
“SOS America PAC is proud to be supporting Miami Mayor Francis Suarez for president and we will continue to fight to get the mayor’s message out,” concluded Fay.
Appearing on NewsNation’s The Hill (weekdays, 5 p.m. ET) this week, Suarez said making the debate stage is crucial for his campaign.
“For someone like me, it’s critical. I’m relatively unknown as you just said. I’m introducing myself to the country. They’re getting to know who I am, they’re getting to know my story, they’re getting to know my policies, and my vision for the country. That is how you try to convince voters that you are the right person to be the president and so getting on that debate stage, where you’re going to have a significant opportunity to communicate directly with the American people. It’s frankly priceless. It’ll be the first real opportunity I have to do that so I’m banking on that as a means of starting to see this incremental growth of going from 1 percent to a majority of the party, overtime of course but it’s important to get up there and have an opportunity to tell that story of where I came from,” said Suarez.
Suarez was asked if he would have to drop out of the race if he did not make the debate.
“I think that’s probably right,” said Suarez. “I’ve often said that running for president is sort of like being on the show Survivor, and you have to sort of make it on one episode to the next. And I think being on the debate stage, particularly for someone like me, is critical. It gives me that exposure – it allows me to connect with the American people. And then, I hope and pray that when given that opportunity, that what’ll happen is I’ll meet the polling threshold for the next debate, so you’ll have a second opportunity. And of course, between those debates, you’re going to the early states.”
