Second-tier Republican forum next month will be shorter, later

Looks like the Republicans’ second tier will get more attention but less time.

The first Republican debate August 6 at 9 p.m. will feature the top 10 plus ties in an average of national polls. The rest of the field, which would currently mean up to six more candidates, can participate in an earlier forum.

That forum was announced for 1 p.m. August 6. Tuesday, debate sponsor Fox News said that forum will begin at 5 p.m. and last an hour, giving it more potential viewers. The forum was originally to be an hour and a half. The changes were first reported by Politico and later confirmed by Fox News.

According to MSNBC’s “First Read,” the polling averages from the last five national polls (WashingtonPost/ABC, Fox, USA Today/Suffolk, Monmouth, CNN) are as follows:

Donald Trump – 16.8 percent

Jeb Bush – 14.8 percent

Scott Walker – 9.8 percent

Marco Rubio – 6.2 percent

Mike Huckabee – 6.2 percent

Rand Paul – 6.2 percent

Ben Carson – 5.8 percent

Ted Cruz – 5.2 percent

Chris Christie – 2.8 percent

Rick Perry – 2.4 percent

According to this analysis, these candidates at the moment qualify to participate in the 5 p.m. forum:

Rick Santorum – 1.8 percent; John Kasich – 1.6 percent; Bobby Jindal – 1.4 percent; Carly Fiorina – 0.8 percent and Lindsey Graham – 0.2 percent. Also running is George Pataki, and Jim Gilmore is expected to join the race next month.

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Second-tier Republican forum next month will be shorter, later."