Politico reports the grim news for Rand Paul's campaign (and Carly Fiorina's): Fox Business News says they didn't meet the set criteria for inclusion in the top-level Republican presidential candidate debate it is hosting Thursday night, and wants to relegate them to the "undercard" debate. But Rand Paul at least says hell no, he won't go:

The Kentucky senator told CNN Monday evening, just before the official announcement, that Fox Business had made "a mistake," and he wouldn't attend. "We will not participate in anything that's not first-tier," Paul said. His campaign confirmed to POLITICO that he will sit out Thursday's debate.

One might think that, while the symbolism of being stuck in that debate is certainly crummy, that getting oneself in front of a cable network audience for an hour and having the possibility of making some news by what one says (when set up against Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Fiorina, Paul could not help but stand out) is better for a floundering campaign than not having that exposure.

But the Paul campaign doesn't seem to see it that way and is choosing to take the prideful path.

The campaign didn't seem to want to answer that question directly this afternoon, responding merely with their press release statement, which read in part that Paul will not