The first Republican candidate debate is coming up on August 23 in Milwaukee and everybody wants to get on that stage.
While former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are the two leading candidates, others with far less support are doing anything possible to get their face in front of America.
Here are some of the tricks and dishonest ways that small-time GOP candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy are trying to find their way onto prime-time TV during the debates.
The Republican National Committee made the rules for debate qualification crystal clear. You need to have donations from a minimum of 40,000 different people and there need to be a minimum of 200 donors in twenty or more states.
In other words, you need a broad distribution of support from across the country. For his part, Ramaswamy is getting around this, saying he’ll pay people a commission of 10% on leads if they find him other people who donate to his campaign.
According to Ramaswamy, this will “democratize” the fundraising process in these primaries.
Long-shot candidate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum has gone even further than Ramasawmy, saying he’ll mail out $20 gift cards for every $1 you give to his campaign.
In other words, you can make free money if you give to Burgum, just get him that unique donation and move him closer to the debate stage!
Unique donations from the required amount aren’t the only requirement for making the debate.
You also have to poll above 1% in three US-wide polls or two national polls and above 1% in the first primary states of New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, or South Carolina.
At this point in time, that means Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, and Larry Elder.
Whether Burgum, Mayor of Miami Francis Suarez, or former Congressman Will Hurd can cross that polling and unique donor bar remains to be seen.
It’s also worth noting that whoever participates in the first debate it will likely have an element of humiliation. Trump said he’s probably not going because the others aren’t polling close enough to him to be worth his time debating.