The Democratic National Committee (DNC) spurned Calls from some Excluded Candidates to make the Criteria more Lenient for the only 2020 Debate before the Iowa Caucuses.
But the DNC is again Raising the Thresholds to Participate in the Party’s Next Presidential Debate.
In Order to Qualify for the Next Debate on Jan. 14th, Candidates must Earn at least 5% in Four Qualifying Polls Released between Nov. 14th and Jan. 10th, or 7% in Two Polls Conducted in One of the Four Early-Voting States on the Nominating Calendar: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina.
Additionally, Candidates must receive Donations from 225,000 Individuals, up from 200,000 for last Thursday’s Debate, with a Minimum of 1,000 Donors in at least 20 States.
The Qualification Deadline is Four Days before the Debate, Jan. 14th, hosted by CNN and The Des Moines Register at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Five Candidates have already Qualified for the Debate: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren.
Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has been in the Race for about a Month, has already hit the Polling Threshold. But Bloomberg, who isn’t Accepting Donations, so won’t be able to meet the Donor Threshold for the January Debate.
Andrew Yang has also Publicly said he’s Cleared the Raised Donor Threshold. But he has Accrued only One of the Four Required Polls.
Tom Steyer, the Last Remaining Candidate to Participate in Thursday Debate, has Two of the Four Polls needed and has Not Publicly said he’s Hit 225,000 Donors.
The Increased Thresholds will likely Exclude every Candidate who is still in the Race: Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, Julián Castro, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Deval Patrick, and Marianne Williamson.
Booker and Castro have Increasingly been Critical of the Debate Process, after the Pair was Excluded from the Last Debate of 2019.
Booker’s Campaign Pressured the DNC to Lower, Not Raise, the Thresholds for Future Debates. Booker, Castro, and the Seven Candidates on Stage Thursday All Signed a Letter urging DNC Chairman Tom Perez to Allow for Candidates to Qualify by Hitting Either a Donor or Polling Threshold, not Both.
The DNC Pushed Back against the Letter, and the New Thresholds Confirm that it didn’t Consider Lowering the Bar to be on Stage.
Booker said in a Fundraising Email Last Week that he had over 234,000 Donors, but he is Unlikely to Clear any Polling Threshold.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
