I say that definitely because the candidates who aren’t on the stage for this first debate are essentially fringe candidates. With an unprecedented number of candidates running, these minor candidates have almost no chance of gaining any traction.
There are currently three candidates who have a decent chance of winning the nomination: Bush, Walker, and Rubio. They have their deficiencies, but all of the other candidates have greater deficiencies. Trump has likely reached his ceiling of appeal and will soon trend downward. Cruz is intelligent, but he is disliked by almost all of his fellow GOP senators, so he won’t have the support of the GOP leadership apparatus. Rand Paul is a phony libertarian. Ben Carson has never held elective office. Huckabee has a serious case of “foot in mouth” disease. Christie likely missed his window which was in 2012. Rick Perry proved last time that he wasn’t very quick on his feet. Kasich has a good story but he has a bland personality. And Santorum, Fiorina, Jindal, and the others will not garner much support outside of their immediate family.
With the candidates campaigning almost non-stop, I don’t share your belief that we have an uninformed electorate. I think most people know what they believe, and the type of candidate they are willing to vote for. With a few possible exceptions, these hucksters don’t fit the bill.