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.
Hochul reveals which election result would make her job ‘a lot easier’ — and it’s not her own
DOJ fires back at Dem AG over Election Day guidance telling officials when to call cops on federal agents
Breaking: Evidence Indicates Democrats Intentionally ‘Stacked’ the Ballot in Key Senate Race
How House Democrats revamped their college outreach in a bid to win back youth voters
Former Federal Immigration Judge Has Tough News for ‘Ilhan Omar’ – A Statute of Limitations Won’t Save Her
Rubio called back to the campaign trail after Texas visit
Husband arrested in wife’s disappearance after family kept getting mystery texts
Mystery woman arrested in American’s death after manhunt in Costa Rican tourist destination
Trump’s unusual legal gambit against Biden-era deportation rule pays off at Supreme Court
Mike Collins drops Election Day gas price prediction in heated Georgia Senate race
Watch: Dramatic Extra-Innings Comeback Extends World Series
RINO Lisa Murkowski Crosses Party Lines to Endorse Democrat for Alaska Governor
Voters who helped Trump win in Michigan are having second thoughts
At least 30 dead in crash between 2 trains in central Spain
Major companies abandon SPLC’s ‘hate groups’ screening tool in corporate giving programs
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.
Hochul reveals which election result would make her job ‘a lot easier’ — and it’s not her own
DOJ fires back at Dem AG over Election Day guidance telling officials when to call cops on federal agents
Breaking: Evidence Indicates Democrats Intentionally ‘Stacked’ the Ballot in Key Senate Race
How House Democrats revamped their college outreach in a bid to win back youth voters
Former Federal Immigration Judge Has Tough News for ‘Ilhan Omar’ – A Statute of Limitations Won’t Save Her
Rubio called back to the campaign trail after Texas visit
Husband arrested in wife’s disappearance after family kept getting mystery texts
Mystery woman arrested in American’s death after manhunt in Costa Rican tourist destination
Trump’s unusual legal gambit against Biden-era deportation rule pays off at Supreme Court
Mike Collins drops Election Day gas price prediction in heated Georgia Senate race
Watch: Dramatic Extra-Innings Comeback Extends World Series
RINO Lisa Murkowski Crosses Party Lines to Endorse Democrat for Alaska Governor
Voters who helped Trump win in Michigan are having second thoughts
At least 30 dead in crash between 2 trains in central Spain
Major companies abandon SPLC’s ‘hate groups’ screening tool in corporate giving programs
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.
