CNN will host 16 Republican candidates for president at its debate Sept. 16 (Wednesday) at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. As they were in the Fox News Channel debates on Aug. 6, the candidates will be placed into one of two groups based on their average ranking in national polls, with the top 10 candidates in the main debate and the rest in a second-tier debate. The debate will take place two days after the frontrunner, Donald Trump, holds a rally in Dallas.

The following University of North Texas faculty members are available to discuss the debate and Trump's rally.

Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, professor and chair of UNT's Department of Political Science, says he expects CNN to follow the same stage placement of the candidates as Fox News Channel did, which means Trump will again be front and center and so should receive the most airtime.

"The placement is driven by polling, and this drives time devoted to candidates," he says, noting that Fox News Channel was criticized for its approach to selecting candidates for both debates. However, he added that CNN's change of criteria "would probably just increase criticism of a system in which you cannot please everyone."

Eshbaugh-Soha is the co-author of Breaking Through the Noise: Presidential Leadership, Public Opinion and the News Media and The President's Speeches: Beyond "Going Public." He has been interviewed by the Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, Governing magazine, San Francisco Chronicle and Scripps Howard News Service, among other media outlets, and appeared often on NPR to discuss presidential races.

Phone: 940-565-2329
E-mail: mes@unt.edu

Philip Paolino, associate professor of political science, will discuss candidates' performance, voters' perceptions of candidate viability, voting patterns, political psychology and political participation during election season. He has published articles in a number of scholarly journals, including American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science and Political Analysis.

Phone: 703-310-7162
E-mail: paolino@unt.edu