Grexit: Lindsey Graham exits the presidential race .. time to delete the whole under-card?

The kids table early debate has been interesting, but ineffectual. Has Sen. Graham’s exit also set the course for Kasich and Paul to pull the plug as well?

I submit that any candidate with less support than Carly Fiorina should gracefully exit and allow their followers enough time to find a new favorite. The most recent average of polling data suggests that a few others might need to consider bowing out:

Pataki’s campaign has been an illustration of how to “phone in” a run for the presidency. Kasich is weak on … well .. everything. take those two out and at least one or two votes might go to other candidates.

The next tier of also-ran candidates will likely include some highly-visible choices like Sen. Paul and Dr. Carson.

Rand Paul always does well in online polls, but struggles outside of his home state. Other than tiny base of loyal followers, Paul is suffering from his father’s challenges – active, but small, the numbers are .. not enough.

Ben Carson enjoyed front-runner status for a time, but just never expressed a concise and intelligent foreign policy view. His demeanor is pleasant, but his lack of understanding of the workings of the world are not.

The next tier of candidates are hanging on, but barely.

Jeb! hasn’t managed to do anything and is now copying Trump’s tactics of name calling in a last-ditch effort to save his campaign. Bush today called Donald “a jerk” formally inviting Trump to be … “a jerk.”

Fiorina did the whole puppy-mercial that no one, not even her, can figure out why it was made. She also struggled with which generals were or were not embattled with Obama. She was a riser when she had her ducks in a row, not so much with her puppies and generals running astray.

Christie is an outlier. Tough to tell if he can entice the base after some difficult political choices as the governor of New Jersey.

One way or another, here’s who’s left.

Name	Born	Current/previous positions	State	Announced	Candidate Logo and campaign link	Ref
Jeb Bush	February 11, 1953 (age 62) Midland, Texas	Governor of Florida (1999–2007) Florida Secretary of Commerce (1987–1988)	Florida	June 15, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[3]
Ben Carson	September 18, 1951 (age 64) Detroit, Michigan	Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital (1984–2013)	Maryland	May 4, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[4][5]
Chris Christie	September 6, 1962 (age 53) Newark, New Jersey	Governor of New Jersey (2010–present) United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey (2002–2008) Morris County Freeholder (1995–1998)	New Jersey	June 30, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[6]
Ted Cruz	December 22, 1970 (age 44) Calgary, Alberta Canada	United States Senator from Texas (2013–present) Solicitor General of Texas (2003–2008)	Texas	March 23, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[7][8]
Carly Fiorina	September 6, 1954 (age 61) Austin, Texas	CEO of Hewlett-Packard (1999–2005) Nominee for United States Senate in California, 2010	Virginia	May 4, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[9]
Jim Gilmore	October 6, 1949 (age 66) Richmond, Virginia	Governor of Virginia (1998–2002) Presidential candidate in 2008 Nominee for United States Senate in Virginia, 2008 Attorney General of Virginia (1994–1997)	Virginia	July 30, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[10]
Mike Huckabee	August 24, 1955 (age 60) Hope, Arkansas	Governor of Arkansas (1996–2007) Presidential candidate in 2008 Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (1993–1996)	Arkansas	May 5, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[11]
John Kasich	May 13, 1952 (age 63) McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania	Governor of Ohio (2011–present) Presidential candidate in 2000 United States Representative from Ohio (1983–2001) Ohio State Senator (1979–1982)	Ohio	July 21, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[12]
George Pataki	June 24, 1945 (age 70) Peekskill, New York	Governor of New York (1995–2006) New York State Senator (1993–1994) New York State Assemblyperson (1985–1992) Mayor of Peekskill (1981–1984)	New York	May 28, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[13]
Rand Paul	January 7, 1963 (age 52) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	United States Senator from Kentucky (2011–present)	Kentucky	April 7, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[14][15]
Marco Rubio	May 28, 1971 (age 44) Miami, Florida	United States Senator from Florida (2011–present) Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (2007–2009) Florida State Representative (2000–2009)	Florida	April 13, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[16][17]
Rick Santorum	May 10, 1958 (age 57) Winchester, Virginia	United States Senator from Pennsylvania (1995–2007) Presidential candidate in 2012 United States Representative from Pennsylvania (1991–1995)	Pennsylvania	May 27, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[18]
Donald Trump	June 14, 1946 (age 69) Queens, New York	CEO of The Trump Organization (1971–present)	New York	June 16, 2015	(Campaign • Positions • Website) FEC filing	[19][20][2

The question is how many of them should follow Sen. Graham off the also-ran debate stage.