The qualifying criteria for the next Democratic debate are out, and they manage to exclude the only veteran and only woman of color left in the race: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii).
This afternoon, Politico reported that the candidates still in the running for the Democratic presidential nomination will need to have earned at least 20 percent of the delegates awarded thus far in order to participate in the March 15 debate hosted by CNN and Univision in Phoenix, Arizona.
That means that only former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.), who respectively have 48 percent and 41 percent of the delegates so far, will be on next Sunday’s stage.
Despite her strong showing in the American Samoa caucuses where she won two delegates, Gabbard still falls short of that very high threshold.
Had the Democratic National Committee stuck with its criteria for the last debate it held on February 25—which only required each candidate to have won a single delegate—Gabbard would have qualified.
California’s Sky-High Minimum Wage Claims Another Victim as Major Outback Steakhouse Franchisee Is Forced to File for Bankruptcy
Texas State Rep Calls for Emergency Session Put Guardrails on Executive Branch Before Dems Seize Power
Midterms and 2028: Join America’s conversation here!
Left-wing troublemakers are only ‘noise’ due to large majorities: Former Virginia governor
Pirro’s office leading criminal investigation into Supreme Court Dobbs leak
DeSantis nukes ‘tech guy’ Vivek after Ohio drubbing: ‘Not in tune’ with blue-collar voters
Escaped Tennessee killer hid in Illinois shed with beer and garlic bread before capture: Sheriff
Prominent DOJ Official Harmeet Dhillon Resigns
Breaking: Stock Market Plummets to ‘Correction’ Zone as ‘True Panic’ Sets in Two Days After Election
Israel’s Arab parties choose between ‘bad and even worse’ as they back Gadi Eisenkot over Netanyahu to form government
Marine veteran working security hailed as hero after stopping active shooter at Florida Citibank campus
DOJ launches criminal probe into Supreme Court leak that exposed ruling overturning Roe v Wade
House GOP launches defense plan to shield Trump from looming Democrat investigations
Ten-term Republican congressman loses to Shannon Taylor in Virginia’s 1st District
LePage’s Maine House race heads to ranked-choice voting
DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa foreshadowed this decision on Super Tuesday, saying on Twitter that “by the time we have the March debate, almost 2,000 delegates will be allocated. The threshold will reflect where we are in the race, as it always has.”
We have two more debates– of course the threshold will go up. By the time we have the March debate, almost 2,000 delegates will be allocated. The threshold will reflect where we are in the race, as it always has.
— Xochitl Hinojosa (@XochitlHinojosa) March 4, 2020
In response to the expected rule change, Gabbard tweeted Thursday about her campaign’s foreign policy focus, and how that can’t be separated from the domestic issues that have gotten the most attention in past debates.
California’s Sky-High Minimum Wage Claims Another Victim as Major Outback Steakhouse Franchisee Is Forced to File for Bankruptcy
Texas State Rep Calls for Emergency Session Put Guardrails on Executive Branch Before Dems Seize Power
Midterms and 2028: Join America’s conversation here!
Left-wing troublemakers are only ‘noise’ due to large majorities: Former Virginia governor
Pirro’s office leading criminal investigation into Supreme Court Dobbs leak
DeSantis nukes ‘tech guy’ Vivek after Ohio drubbing: ‘Not in tune’ with blue-collar voters
Escaped Tennessee killer hid in Illinois shed with beer and garlic bread before capture: Sheriff
Prominent DOJ Official Harmeet Dhillon Resigns
Breaking: Stock Market Plummets to ‘Correction’ Zone as ‘True Panic’ Sets in Two Days After Election
Israel’s Arab parties choose between ‘bad and even worse’ as they back Gadi Eisenkot over Netanyahu to form government
Marine veteran working security hailed as hero after stopping active shooter at Florida Citibank campus
DOJ launches criminal probe into Supreme Court leak that exposed ruling overturning Roe v Wade
House GOP launches defense plan to shield Trump from looming Democrat investigations
Ten-term Republican congressman loses to Shannon Taylor in Virginia’s 1st District
LePage’s Maine House race heads to ranked-choice voting
I welcome the opportunity to raise & discuss the foreign policy challenges we face, like the new cold war/nuclear arms race, Turkey's efforts to drag the U.S. into a war with Russia over Syria, the coronavirus, & more. Domestic policy cannot be separated from foreign policy. https://t.co/jgVxSz1huX
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) March 5, 2020
Biden and Sanders have sparred in the past over the former’s initial support for the Iraq War, so there is some chance that the two candidates’ contrasting foreign policy visions will be on display come the next debate.
Still, it might have been interesting to have Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, up on stage to offer her own unique perspective on foreign policy. She’s repeatedly argued that rising tensions between the U.S., Russia, and China is putting the country on the road to nuclear war.
A Bernie-Biden smackdown will likely feature less talk of a nuclear apocalypse and a lot more bickering about health care. That’s enough to get anyone running for their fall out shelter.
Story cited here.
