NARROWING THE FIELD – AT 11:30 A.M. ET:  Republicans have a situation that is at once a blessing and a curse.  They have enormous presidential talent available, but too many candidates become a blur, especially during debates.  However, the Republican National Committee, which has been well run in the last few years, is taking on the problem.  From The Politico: 

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A broad consensus is beginning to take hold among Republican party officials that the presidential primary debates shouldn’t include any more than a dozen candidates — despite the fact that there might be as many as 19 declared candidates by the time the primary debates start this August.

Though the precise criteria for debate participation ultimately will be decided by the networks staging them — and party leaders continue to insist nothing has been finalized — there is behind-the-scenes agreement here at the Republican National Committee spring meeting that the first debates should be capped at 12 candidates.

“Our goal is to accommodate as many candidates as possible at the beginning,” said Steve Duprey, the New Hampshire committeeman who chairs the RNC’s 2016 debate committee. “I think there’s consensus to cap it between nine and 12. And we may not need more than that, depending on how the contest goes. Each of the media partners may have different criteria and they’re going to evolve.”

COMMENT:  The Republican field in 2012 began with too many candidates, and the first debates were absurd.  You couldn't, as the saying goes, tell the players without a scorecard. 

Narrowing the field – which means excluding some candidates – is obviously a very delicate matter.  How do you determine who goes?  By opinion polls.  By vote of the national committee?  Leaving it up to the organizations that sponsor the debates?

Stay tuned.  The Democratic field is, er, much narrower.  They don't have the problem, or the glory.

May 16, 2015