The Democratic National Committee (DNC) rolled out the Qualification Rules for its Presidential Debate later this month in South Carolina. The Criteria leaves the door open for Two Billionaires, Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, to join the Top Five Candidates who emerged from Iowa and New Hampshire.

To qualify for the Feb. 25th Debate in Charleston, S.C., Candidates need to:

Hit 10% in Four Polls Approved by the DNC, or 12% in South Carolina-specific Polls, or Win at least One Delegate to the DNC Convention from One of the Three preceding Early States: Iowa, New Hampshire, or Nevada.

Polls must be Released between Feb. 4th, the day after the Iowa Caucuses, and Feb. 24th.

These Rules are similar to the Criteria for the Feb. 19th Debate in Nevada, with the Only changes being a Shorter Polling Window and Not Counting Nevada Polls toward Qualification, because the Debate takes place after Nevadans would have Voted.

According to POLITICO’s Tracking of Public Polling and Delegate Projections, Five Candidates have Immediately Qualified for the South Carolina Debate: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchrar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. Those same Five are the Only Candidates who’ve Qualified so far for the Debate in Nevada on Feb. 19th.

The South Carolina Debate is Hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, in Partnership with Twitter. It is set to Air on CBS from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The two Billionaires in the Race, Bloomberg and Steyer, have Not Met the Qualification Criteria yet for either the Nevada or South Carolina Debates. The Deadline to Qualify for Nevada is Feb. 18th.

Bloomberg is Close to making the Stage in Nevada next week. The Former Three-Term New York City Mayor needs One more Poll to Qualify for Next week’s Debate in Nevada, and Two more Polls for the South Carolina Debate.

Steyer has also Not Qualified for either Debate. So far, Nine Polls have been Released in the Nevada Qualifying Window, and Eight of which have been National Polls.

The Only Poll that Steyer broke 10% in is a Las Vegas Review-Journal/AARP Nevada Poll conducted by the Republican Firm WPA Intelligence, in which he hit 11%.

The DNC also announced Saturday that it would include the LVRJ/AARP toward Qualifying for the Nevada Debate. The DNC Reserved the Right to Retroactively Add a Poll from South Carolina or Nevada in its Initial Announcement for the Nevada Debate, and did the same for the South Carolina-specific Poll ahead of the Palmetto State debate.

Steyer’s Campaign maintains that he is better Positioned in the next Two States, Nevada and South Carolina.

But there has been a Polling drought in those Two States, with the LVRJ/AARP Poll as the Only Qualifying Poll out of either State Released thus far in the Nevada Qualifying Window.

Steyer called on the DNC to Back-Date the Qualifying Window to include Polls from those States conducted Earlier, which would likely Qualify him for the Debate, a Plea his Campaign said went Unanswered by the DNC.

The DNC has been hesitant to Change Qualification Rules for a Debate after they’re already been Announced, Rebuffing numerous other calls Earlier in the Cycle.

On Friday, the DNC also Announced that the Next Debate after South Carolina will be on March 15th in Phoenix, Arizona. The Eleventh Debate will almost assuredly have a Smaller Stage than either the Nevada or South Carolina Debate because it will take place at roughly the Halfway Point of the Primary, when the Field is expected to get Smaller.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker