ABC releases guidelines for January 7th GOP debate

Coming up this Saturday will be the first post-Iowa GOP debate heading into New Hampshire. The debate will be held at Saint Anselm College in Manchester and sponsored by ABC News, Yahoo! and WMUR.

Air Time: Saturday, January 7th at 9pm ET / 6pm PT on ABC

Participants: Santorum, Romney, Paul, Perry, Gingrich, Huntsman

Report from WMUR:

In an effort to provide viewers the best opportunity to hear from the candidates, the co-sponsors of the ABC News, Yahoo!, WMUR debate at Saint Anselm College on Jan. 7, 2012 have agreed on a set of criteria for a candidate’s participation. The candidates have been informed of these criteria, which are the same criteria ABC News applied during the 2008 election cycle.

In order for a candidate to meet the standard of eligibility to participate in the debate, they must either:
1) Achieve 5 percent or higher in a poll of likely NH Republican primary voters conducted by UNH Survey Center, Harvard/Saint Anselm NHIOP, or any polling organization on the list below, conducted between Nov. 1, 2011 and Jan. 6, 2012;

– OR –

2) Achieve 5 percent or higher in a primary trial heat of registered Republican voters in any of the national polls designated on the list below, conducted between Nov. 1, 2011 and Jan. 6, 2012;

– OR –

3) Place first, second or third in the Iowa Republican caucuses.

Polling organizations include: ABC News, AP, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, FOX, Gallup, NBC News, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post

This should be a very entertaining match up considering how sharply Gingrich has begun going after Romney. The candidates with the most to gain could be Gingrich, Santorum and Paul who would all love to bring Romney down a few pegs and prevent a landslide victory next Tuesday in New Hampshire.