"It occurred within the window of time they prescribed," Paul said in an interview. "We’re they will reevaluate and count this poll, which comes after the NBC/Marist poll, which also had us alone in fifth place. Our campaign is talking with them about re-evaluating the decision."

In a Wednesday morning statement to Politico, Fox Business denied that any candidate would get a second look. The debate stage of just seven candidates was set. "We announced the criteria in December and clearly stated the polling needed to be conducted and released by Monday, January 11th," the network said.

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Yet Paul, who has been on a media tear since announcing he would boycott anything but the main-stage debate, told MSNBC this morning that the network and the Republican National Committee "should be counting the Des Moines Register poll." In his later interview with The Washington Post, Paul said the discussions had already begun.

"The Republican Party is the most important link here," he said. "The party has worked for six months to push people off the stage. If the Republican Party wants to expand its appeal, it's going to need to attract libertarian-ish leaning voters. If it tries to push liberty voters out, by being disenfranchised or by limiting the debates, there are big risks in doing that. There are a lot of close races around the country where we're going to need those voters."