'Clock is ticking': 2024 GOP contenders advised to look for 'breakout' opportunities during second debate

The clock's ticking for the Republican presidential candidates who will face off in prime time on Wednesday at the second GOP primary debate.

Former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner in the Republican 2024 race, with less than four months to go until the Iowa caucuses, which kicks off the GOP nominating calendar.

Fox News' Dana Perino predicts that Wednesday's showdown "is where the rubber meets the road."

Perino, who served as White House press secretary under then-President George W. Bush, emphasized that the candidates on the stage "have to have something" that illustrates they can be the "main rival" to Trump. "Their donors and supporters need them to have that kind of moment."

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Perino, along with Fox Business' Stuart Varney and UNIVISION’s Ilia Calderón will co-moderate the debate, which will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The debate will be televised on the FOX Business Network (FBN) and UNIVISION from 9-11pm ET on Wednesday.

With the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary — the second contest in the GOP nominating calendar — fast approaching, Republican communicator Ryan Williams spotlighted a sense of urgency.

"The clock is ticking for you to have your breakout moment and establish yourself in the top three — Trump and his two closest rivals. I think that’s how this race will be looked at after Iowa and New Hampshire — it will be Trump and two others potentially. But at this point Trump is so far and away in the lead that there really has to be consolidation of the field if anybody is going to have a feasible chance of knocking him off," Williams, who served on multiple GOP presidential campaigns, argued.

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To participate in the second debate, candidates must reach polling and donor thresholds set by the Republican National Committee (RNC). 

They must have a minimum of 50,000 unique donors to their campaign or exploratory committee, including 200 donors in 20 or more states. The candidates must also reach 3% support in two national polls or reach 3% in one national poll and 3% in two polls conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, the four states that lead off the Republican presidential nominating calendar.

Additionally, candidates are also required to sign a pledge in which they agree to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee. They must agree not to participate in any non-RNC sanctioned debates for the rest of the 2024 election cycle and agree to data-sharing with the national party committee.

The RNC announced on Monday evening that seven of the eight candidates who took part in last month's first GOP presidential nomination debate will be on the stage in California.

They are, in alphabetical order, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, biotech entrepreneur and political commentator Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

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Trump, who has reached the donor and polling thresholds, did not sign the RNC's pledge. Pointing to his commanding lead over his rivals for the nomination, the former president did not attend the first debate and is not showing up for the second showdown.

The Reagan Library is a much smaller venue than the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, site of the Fox News-hosted first debate, and a much smaller audience of around 700 is expected, giving Wednesday's showdown a more intimate setting.

With FOX Business hosting the second debate, the economy will likely take center stage.

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"Certainly, the economy is a front and center issue for all Americans. You see that in every poll. And the economy effects every other thing," Perino said. "There’s a high amount of anxiety [among Americans] across all sorts of issues and the economy is certainly front and center and is sort of the river that runs through it all."

But Varney noted that "nobody wants to hear about the Federal Reserve, earnings per share, and all that kind of jargon stuff that you get out of Wall Street and financial and business news. That’s not going to be there."

"The economy will be there, along with all the other subjects that Americans are concerned with," he emphasized.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.