Yesterday, Fox Business Channel announced the lineup for the Republican Presidential Debate on Thursday, with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich all making it onto the main stage. There are two familiar names that were dropped from the main event, namely being Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina. Fiorina will be participating in the undercard debate, while Paul has declared that he will not be participating in any undercard debate because he “has a top tier campaign.”

Looking at the facts, Paul is correct. His campaign is more “top tier” than some of those that are on the stage over him. So why is it, then, that Fox Business left Paul off of the main stage?

The stages are determined by poll numbers, and that is why Paul has been left off of the main stage. But is this argument really valid? While he may not be the highest polling candidate, some of the largest polls in the country, such as CNN, Fox and CBS, have Paul in either fifth or sixth place, polling ahead of Christie, Bush and Kasich, who all made it onto the main stage. Put those with many independent online polls that show Paul in first place, polling shouldn’t be keeping Paul off of the stage.

Yet, the polls aren’t necessarily what makes a campaign “top tier.” Last week, Paul announced that he has 1000 precinct leaders in Iowa and over 500 endorsements from New Hampshire public officials. For those that don’t know, Iowa and New Hampshire are the first states to vote for the presidential primaries. If that isn’t “top tier,” then it must be impossible to make top tier.

It should also be noted that Rand Paul is the candidate that does best with the youth, as numerous polls show that he is the GOP candidate that millennials and young people support. In fact, Rand Paul’s student organization, Students for Rand, whose purpose is “to recruit, organize, and mobilize young people to elect Rand Paul,” has recently reached 400 chapters on campuses nationwide. Most of these students, whether they are in high school or college, don’t have a landline phone, which is how most major polls are conducted. So, with every poll that comes out, Rand Paul’s numbers are likely significantly lower than what they should be. This, along with the fact that Paul is polling ahead of Christie, Bush and Kasich in most polls is evidence enough that Rand Paul should be on the main stage at the Fox Business Debate on Thursday. Yet, Christie, Bush and Kasich have all made it onto the main stage, while Fox Business has left Rand Paul wrongfully in the cold.

These points prove one thing, that if anyone should be left off of the main stage, it certainly shouldn’t be Rand Paul. When the most major national polls show a candidate that is polling above many that have been chosen over him to be on the main stage, there is clearly a problem. Fox Business has made a huge mistake by leaving Rand Paul off of the stage, as the polls show that he should clearly be there.