Keep Haley and DeSantis — and cut the rest of the field

The third Republican primary debate made one thing clear: It’s time to cull the GOP field. Yes, five candidates onstage made for a much better debate than seven or eight. But it was still too many. After nine months of campaigning and three nationally televised debates, only two not-Trump candidates have emerged with double-digit support in national polls and the early primary states: Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. It’s time for the rest of the candidates to get out of the way and let them fight it out for the chance to take on former president Donald Trump. Right now, the Republican Party is failing its voters by treating this as a normal primary season — keeping the threshold for debate participation low and waiting for voters to winnow the pool of candidates when they start casting ballots. Sorry, but this is not a normal primary season. In truth, there are two GOP primaries: The first is to determine the sole credible challenger to Trump. The second will be to challenge Trump for the GOP nomination. These must take place sequentially. If the first primary is not resolved conclusively — with one candidate emerging as the clear alternative to Trump — then the second contest will be over before it begins. To make the stage at Wednesday’s debate, candidates needed 4% support in at least two national polls. For the next debate, next month, the threshold will rise to 6%. That’s still too low. A candidate who has not broken into double-digit support by now has zero chance of winning the nomination. To make the next debate, candidates should have to demonstrate at least 10% support in two national polls. That metric would leave DeSantis and Haley (and Trump, if he decides to show up) on the stage in December. Anyone who can’t meet that threshold is wasting voters’ time. Former vice president Mike Pence did the honorable thing and stepped aside when his campaign didn’t catch fire — putting his country ahead of his own ambitions once again. But others keep running long after it is clear they can’t win. Perhaps they want a platform to make a point, or they think that one more debate performance will boost their vice-presidential prospects, or they simply crave attention and don’t want to give up the campaign spotlight. Well, the time for point-making, attention-seeking and using the race to pursue other offices is over. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie

A candidate who has not broken into double-digit support ... has zero chance.

should drop out and challenge Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who has been indicted on federal bribery charges. Christie could better serve his party by putting New Jersey’s Senate seat in play. Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) is a good man with a bright future, but this is not his year. And Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack on Nikki Haley’s daughter in Wednesday’s debate was disgraceful and disqualifying. His campaign, which is little more than a tryout to inherit the Infowars anchor chair of Sandy Hook truther Alex Jones, should be brought to an ignominious conclusion. By staying in the race long after their campaigns are clearly unviable, the other contenders are helping Trump prevail over a divided field. In Iowa and New Hampshire, Trump is leading with a plurality of about 47%, which means a majority of Republicans support someone else. In South Carolina, an early-voting state, Trump has 49% support, which is again not a majority. There is a nonTrump majority to be had, but only if the candidates with no viable path step aside. If they won’t step aside, then they should be pushed aside by losing their places on the debate stage. Because here is the bottom line: It’s either a Haley-DeSantis race to take on Trump, or the entire Republican primary process is little more than a sideshow.