Does it feel like you’ve seen these same guys over and over during the undercard debates? That’s not exactly right. August’s undercard didn’t include Huckabee, who got the main stage. It also featured Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina and Jim Gilmore. By September, Gilmore had dropped off the debate rosters, Perry had dropped out of the race entirely, and Fiorina had jumped alongside Huckabee and the rest of the main debaters. The undercard stayed steady in October: Santorum, Jindal, Pataki, Graham. Last month, Huckabee and Chris Christie dropped to the kids’ table — yes, this post is an excuse to use lots of synonyms for the undercard debate — while Pataki and Graham got the night off. Since then, Jindal has dropped out and Christie has moved up, making room for Pataki and Graham to take the spots that it feels like they’ve always occupied in these debates.
