Being the warm-up act is beginning to feel familiar for four candidates.
Just like last month, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York Gov. George Pataki and South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham are relegated to the earlier "undercard" debate this evening on CNBC, taking the stage at 6 p.m. for an abbreviated debate.
The quartet, all just barely registering on national polls, will be trying to have a breakout moment that could jumpstart their campaign and launch them onto the next main debate stage — as business woman Carly Fiorina did in the first debate.
But for now, the four have seen little movement since the last debate. And Pataki and Graham only barely made the lower stage even, finally scoring at least one percent in a national poll. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, once again, didn't even qualify for the debate, which has been derided by some as the "Happy Hour" or "Kids' Table" debate.
There's continued to be teeth gnashing over this format — Jindal, who has seen improving poll numbers in Iowa, threatened to not even attend tonight. But for these candidates, any exposure is good exposure. Still, as the clock ticks down to Iowa, all will be facing difficult decisions in recent weeks and months, with their fundraising dwindling, to make a case to carry on.
We'll be liveblogging the first debate below. You can also follow along with NPR by using the hashtag #nprdebate and see the live Twitter chat here. Also read our analysis on what each candidate in both debates needs to do tonight.
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