Rand Paul: I Should Be in Next GOP Debate, 'I Met the Criteria'

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul argued Wednesday that he should be in the sixth debate on Thursday and complained that GOP officials were using "criteria that is arbitrary" in determining who would participate in the main contest.

"I should be in the debate," he told Erin Burnett on CNN. "I met their criteria.

"But even meeting that standard, we met it and yet we're still not in it."

Paul, the first-term Kentucky senator, asked party officials to include him in the prime-time debate. Fox Business Network said that Paul did not place among the top five candidates because his polling average did not meet the standard.

"My question to the Republican Party is do you want a bigger party or a smaller party when you exclude candidates who meet the criteria?" Paul told Burnett. "That's a big mistake for the Republican Party."

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