Seen in the Myrtle Beach Sun News:
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee have all accepted their invitations, said Rob Godfrey, spokesman for the state Republican Party.
“The stakes couldn’t be higher this election, and we couldn’t be more excited to extend a warm South Carolina welcome to six White House hopefuls who are seeking the Republican nomination,” said Katon Dawson, chairman of the state GOP.
To be invited, candidates must have placed in the top 5 positions in the New Hampshire poll — McCain, Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani and Paul — or be polling at least 5 percent nationally, such as Thompson.
It’s nice to see objective criteria being consistently held to for tonight’s debate. However, I’m sufficiently leery of Fox News’ sensationalism, “fairness” and “balance” to wonder if this is either a decision forced upon FNC by the South Carolina GOP, or if it’s Fox’s decision to bring Paul on to grill him about his newsletter under the guise of “debate”.