The fourth Republican debate will air at 9 pm Eastern tonight on the Fox Business Network. But don't worry, if you don't have cable, you can still tune in — Fox Business will generously post an online livestream available at this link. This is in contrast to the last GOP debate hosted by CNBC, which had a livestream restricted to people with cable accounts.
Tonight's event will be the least crowded GOP debate yet — there will only be eight candidates on the primetime stage. Donald Trump and Ben Carson are neck and neck for the poll lead, so they'll be center stage. Then, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who got poll bounces after being declared the winners of the last debate, are currently in third and fourth. Jeb Bush, whose campaign has not been going well lately, is down in the fifth place spot. And rounding out the lineup are Carly Fiorina (who's lost most of the poll bounce she got from previous debate performances), John Kasich, and Rand Paul.
An earlier undercard debate took place at 7 pm Eastern, featuring Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, and Rick Santorum. Huckabee and Christie were be in the undercard for the first time after failing to meet the polling cutoff for the primetime event. And usual undercard participants Lindsey Graham and George Pataki were dropped for failing to reach 1 percent in any of the four most recent national polls — they joined Jim Gilmore in no-man's-land.
At the main event, definitely expect some fireworks. Donald Trump clearly seems quite nervous about Ben Carson's recent polling strength — each has been leading a few recent polls — and has been getting very nasty on Twitter about Carson. But a face to face confrontation against Carson, who's extremely well-liked among the Republican electorate, could be risky, as Jeb Bush found out when he tried to take on Rubio during the last debate two weeks ago. Bush's campaign has been in very bad shape since, and another bad performance tonight risks exacerbating the recent movement of establishment support to Rubio.
If you should happen to miss this one, the next Republican debate won't happen for nearly a month — until December 15, which will be just a month and a half before the Iowa caucuses. However, you could also tune in for the next Democratic debate later this week, on Saturday, November 14.
How to watch
When: 9 pm Tuesday
Where: Milwaukee Theater
TV: Fox Business Network
Online: At FoxBusiness.com, a free live stream will be available
