Aug. 03--Foreshadowing the first GOP debate of the 2016 election later this week, more than a dozen Republican presidential candidates will test their messages and face questions Monday night at a New Hampshire voters' forum.
The gathering at Saint Anselm College in Manchester will be televised nationally three days before the first debate takes place Thursday in Cleveland.
"This is kind of like opening a play in New Haven to see how it will play in New York," said Jack Pitney, a former national GOP official and professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. He said the appearances will offer a window into the candidates' tactics in the upcoming debate. "Do you want to be presidential or do you want to be confrontational? Do you want to lay out new ideas or make a case for existing policies? This is an opportunity for them to see what kind of approach might work best."
The 14 candidates taking part in the Voters First Presidential Forum also will get a turn in the spotlight without fear of being overshadowed by Donald Trump, the business mogul turned reality television star who is leading the polls. He decided against participating after one of the event's hosts, the New Hampshire Union Leader, ran an editorial criticizing Trump's statements about Sen. John McCain's war record.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore also are not participating.
Three candidates -- Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida -- will participate remotely because of a Senate vote to stop funding Planned Parenthood.
The remainder will take part in person. They include top-tier candidates such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and those who have never held political office, such as Dr. Ben Carson and former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina.
Monday's gathering, which is being broadcast nationally on C-SPAN and on local television in key early voting states, offers a spotlight for candidates who fail to make the cut for Thursday's debate, which is being hosted by Fox News. That face-off, along with one in September hosted by CNN, is limited to the top 10 placeholders in an aggregate of recent national polls.
Fiorina is among those unlikely to earn a spot in Thursday's debate, so her campaign urged her followers to tune in to Monday's forum.
"This is a chance for Carly to introduce herself to the voters -- and demonstrate exactly what the difference is between true leaders and the political class," Sarah Isgur Flores, Fiorina's deputy campaign manager, emailed supporters on Monday. "(And, of course, it's a great opportunity to show our opponents: don't underestimate Carly Fiorina.)"
The restrictions on participation in the upcoming debates and the reliance on national polling has caused consternation in the states that hold the first contests in the nominating process; they fear that such moves could decrease their outsize role in presidential politics.
The forum, sponsored by media outlets from Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, is the byproduct of such concerns. The two-hour gathering that starts at 4 p.m. Pacific time will be broadcast live on C-SPAN.
Moderator Jack Heath of Manchester's WGIR-AM radio station will question each candidate individually for about five minutes, drawing upon thousands of questions that were submitted by voters. Many focused on the economy and immigration.
Bush, who faces skepticism among some conservative voters because of perceived moderation on immigration policy, on Monday rolled out a six-point plan that included calls for increased border surveillance and a crackdown on sanctuary cities and immigrants who overstay visas. He also reiterated his support for the legalization of the millions of people who are in the country illegally if they pass background checks, pay fines, not take government assistance and learn English.
seema.mehta@latimes.com
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