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.
Murdaugh ‘egg juror’ fights to crack open jury tampering investigation with records in court clerk scandal
Influencer mom, lawyer dad accused of dark-web murder plot against boy-band baby daddy
The Last Leg of Stephen Colbert’s Far-Left Farewell Tour Reminds Us Exactly Why CBS Canceled Him
Trump roasts Dem candidate as unelectable for cardinal sin in Texas
Transcript: Washington Examiner’s full interview with White House border czar Tom Homan
Jeff Bezos Gives AOC a Basic Economics Lesson After She Claims No One Can ‘Earn’ Billions
‘Babydog Justice’ back from surgery and feeling ‘paws-atively better’
‘Hunter Biden’ X account debuts with eyebrow-raising claim as GOP lawmakers pile on
Cuban ex-President Raul Castro indicted on charges including murder, conspiracy to kill US nationals
Trump-backed housing bill clears House after GOP defies Senate pressure campaign
Makeup Mogul Walks Away from Hollywood, Donates Fortune to Become Catholic Priest: ‘Never Been Happier’
‘Trying to Break Me… Because I am a Christian’: Ex-Lawmaker Targeted for 10 Commandments Capitol Monument
Georgetown Cupcake keg tosser suspected in second brazen M Street attack caught on video
Fmr Dem Rep Barney Frank, sharp-tongued liberal trailblazer, Dodd-Frank co-author dies
The red states charging ahead with America’s wealth as rivals watch billions slip away
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.
Murdaugh ‘egg juror’ fights to crack open jury tampering investigation with records in court clerk scandal
Influencer mom, lawyer dad accused of dark-web murder plot against boy-band baby daddy
The Last Leg of Stephen Colbert’s Far-Left Farewell Tour Reminds Us Exactly Why CBS Canceled Him
Trump roasts Dem candidate as unelectable for cardinal sin in Texas
Transcript: Washington Examiner’s full interview with White House border czar Tom Homan
Jeff Bezos Gives AOC a Basic Economics Lesson After She Claims No One Can ‘Earn’ Billions
‘Babydog Justice’ back from surgery and feeling ‘paws-atively better’
‘Hunter Biden’ X account debuts with eyebrow-raising claim as GOP lawmakers pile on
Cuban ex-President Raul Castro indicted on charges including murder, conspiracy to kill US nationals
Trump-backed housing bill clears House after GOP defies Senate pressure campaign
Makeup Mogul Walks Away from Hollywood, Donates Fortune to Become Catholic Priest: ‘Never Been Happier’
‘Trying to Break Me… Because I am a Christian’: Ex-Lawmaker Targeted for 10 Commandments Capitol Monument
Georgetown Cupcake keg tosser suspected in second brazen M Street attack caught on video
Fmr Dem Rep Barney Frank, sharp-tongued liberal trailblazer, Dodd-Frank co-author dies
The red states charging ahead with America’s wealth as rivals watch billions slip away
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.
