GOP Prunes the 2016 Primary Debates Down to Nine

With so many Republican debates during the 2012 presidential campaign, it’s hardly surprising, in retrospect, that exhausted or ill-prepared candidates made so many gaffes on or off the stage. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry famously said “oops” after forgetting one of the three federal departments he’d vowed to eliminate if he won the White House. Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania lost his momentum after saying President Obama was a “snob” for wanting all young people to attend