The second Republication (GOP) presidential debate takes place on Wednesday night, hosted by CNN, and Donald Trump and his fellow contenders are gearing up for an intense night of debate where their policies will be put under the public microscope. Two debates will take place tonight, the first starting at 6 p.m. ET featuring four second-tier candidates. The main debate will start at 8 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CNN network, or online through free live stream via the link below.
Donald Trump will again be center stage for tonight's debate, reflecting his leading position in recent polls among Republican hopefuls.
Tonight's debate will take place from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and will see Trump flanked by Ben Carson, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
One interesting new dynamic in this second debate will be the addition of Carly Fiorina, who did not make the first debate. However, her impressive performance in her first "undercard" GOP debate, coupled with her eagerness to take on Trump directly should mean that she brings something new and fresh to the debate tonight.
The Iowa caucuses are less than five months away, and until now most pundits and experts have been waiting for the interest in Trump to wane away. However, he has gone from strength to strength in the polls, and it is coming to the point where it is no longer sufficient for other candidates to wait on the sidelines for Trump to implode, but rather they are going to have to give the electorate reason to move away from the business tycoon.
Trump's completely unorthodox methods have caught the attention of voters over recent months, and they have made clear their stance that they are fed up with "more of the same" politicians. Looking for someone to shake up Washington D.C. and go against the regular trend of politics on Capitol Hill has seen both Trump and Ben Carson rise to the front of the GOP presidential race.
One person many are hoping will shine in the debate tonight is Fiorina. She was widely praised for her performance at the first GOP debate, which featured the then-second tier candidates, and many have said that she is the best equipped to counter Trump's combative methods.
Dan Pfeiffer, former adviser to President Barack Obama, has told CNN of Fiorina: "She is potentially the biggest threat to his being the nominee because she has all the resume of the outsider, not in elected office, but has more traditional experience -- seems less risky than Donald Trump or Ben Carson."
Whether Trump will come out of the second debate with another surge in the polls or whether another Republican candidate will emerge as a front runner remains to be seen. But one thing's for sure; with Trump centerstage there is unlikely to be a dull moment in tonight's debate.
The Republican Presidential debate has a scheduled start time of 8 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CNN network or online through free CNN live stream by clicking here.
