August 11th GOP Debate participants being finalized

We’re just a few short days away from the August 11th Republican debate in Ames, Iowa. The debate organizers have released a list of candidates which are invited to attend and some information on the debate surrounding the debate of whether former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson will be invited or not.

Report from Politico:

There’s some uncertainty swirling about the line up for the GOP primary debate, to be held in Iowa on Aug. 11, according to a series of releases sent out today.

A statement sent out by The Examiner, which is partnering with the Iowa GOP and Fox for the debate, provided a final line-up for the debate.

However, according to rules voted on by the state party’s central committee, candidates have until Aug. 9 to meet the requirements which include being registered with the FEC, meeting U.S. Constitutional Requirements and a one percent showing in five national polls.

Two candidates who failed to land a spot in the last GOP debate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer were not included on the list provided by The Examiner. Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter was also not included.

Elizabeth Renda, a spokeswoman for the Johnson campaign, said the campaign has been in close contact with the debate organizers, who told Johnson they will reach a final decision on the line-up on Aug. 9.

Two hours after the initial release went out, The Examiner corrected the information:

“Eight candidates have qualified for the debate so far: Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman. The deadline for meeting the criteria for participating in the debate is 5 p.m. EST on Tuesday, August 9.”

Of course, the “prize” coming out of the August 11th debate could be improved standing prior to the August 13th Ames Straw Poll. To put that in perspective, here is a report from KCCI CBS in Des Moines, Iowa:

We’ll post any breaking debate information when we have it including a confirmed participant list. We might not have that until a couple days before given the late deadline candidates have been afforded to qualify for the debate.

The debate airs Thursday, August 11th at 9pm EST on Fox News.