Sorry, Tim Pawlenty, but a stage that consists of you, Herman Cain, and Fred Karger just wasn't going to put bodies in the seats. Politico:
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation has postponed its debate for Republican candidates from May 2 to September 14.As of now, the first debate will be on May 5th, hosted by Fox News and the South Carolina GOP. This will be the first New Hampshire debate, co-hosted by the Union Leader, CNN, and WMUR in Manchester on June 7th. Both debate host coalitions are surely begging candidates with national name identification above nought to form exploratory committees soon. This would likely include Michele Bachmann, whose unadulterated strain of crazy is guaranteed to be a spectacle few politically-informed Americans would care to miss.
...
Organizers worried that the May 2 debate, which was announced shortly after the midterm elections last November, would not attract candidates who will eventually get into the race but are delaying announcements for legal and political reasons. Only one top-tier candidate, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, has officially created an exploratory committee.
John Heubusch, the Reagan foundation's executive director, said that pushing the debate back four-and-a-half months will allow "enough time for the full slate of candidates to participate.”