The stage has been set for the next Republican presidential debate, slated for Thursday night in South Carolina.
Looking in from the outside will be two candidates who've been on the main stage in most previous debates and have spent considerable time in the Granite State.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina were relegated to the undercard debate, after both failed to reach the polling criteria set by debate organizer Fox Business Network.
Paul told CNN Monday night he plans to boycott the debate.
"We are a contender," Paul said. We think we have a national campaign that can contend for victory and we can't accept sort of an artificial designation by anybody."
The main stage participants will be Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie.
