Oh, for heaven’s sake, Republican National Committee and ABC News, let Carly Fiorina participate in Saturday night’s debate.

We’re down to eight candidates. (No, I’m not counting Jim “12 votes in Iowa” Gilmore.) After months of double-debates and under-card debates and eleven candidates squeezed onto one stage, now we have to cut off Fiorina?

No, the decision isn’t driven by sexism; it’s driven by arbitrary criteria. She didn’t meet ABC’s benchmarks, which were to rank in the top three in Iowa, or the top six in the New Hampshire polling average, or the top six in the national polling average.

But her seventh-place, 3,485-vote finish in Iowa was ahead of John Kasich and Chris Christie, and good enough for one delegate, putting her one delegate ahead of Christie. She’s currently 1.8 percentage points away from sixth place, in an average of polls that have margins of error of 3 points or more. Her polling average in New Hampshire is a little ahead of Ben Carson, who is participating.

(From the beginning, this cycle’s debate criteria stunk. By using national polls as the yardsticks for prime-time participation, the RNC and networks established a vicious cycle: Lesser-known candidates didn’t appear in prime time, marginalizing them and giving them a smaller spotlight, which kept their poll numbers down, which ensured they wouldn’t get to appear in prime time for the next debate, and so on. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised to see one more arbitrary, poll-driven cut-off.)

Finally, Fiorina’s actually a good debater and adds something to the stage. She’s fun to watch, always comes prepared, and usually has at least one good zinger or joke. If I’m going to have to watch karate-chop my-dad-was-a-mailman John Kasich telling stories about how back in Ohio Jesus told him to expand Medicaid for another night, at least let me see Fiorina drop opposition research with a smile.

If, at the end of New Hampshire’s primary night, Fiorina finishes with the 3.2 percent she has in the current RealClearPolitics polling average, there will be a strong argument that she doesn’t belong in future debates, and probably ought to hang it up. But let’s give her that one more opportunity in prime time and see what happens.