News Opinons Politics

DNC Changes Debate Qualifications, Excluding Tulsi Gabbard

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.


Iceland votes on resuming EU membership talks as Trump’s push for neighboring Greenland looms over debate
Retired Port Authority officers tell Mamdani, Hochul to stay away from Ground Zero on 9/11
Former California councilman’s corruption unmasked after FBI finds cash buried in backyard
El-Sayed’s Demeaning Usha Vance Comments Set Stage for Major Backfire with Key Demo
Mississippi mayor argues against lowering flag for Dolly Parton after her death
Obama Judge Once Again Orders Postal Service To Defy Trump’s Mail-In Ballot Executive Order
Dems face uphill battle in challenge to Georgia Congressional map under new SCOTUS rules
Fauci’s Gov’t Division Worked Hand in Glove with the CIA: Docs
Abdul El-Sayed peppered with questions on Hasan Piker link, fracture with Jewish Dems at Michigan convention
UN Told Merchant Ships Not to Arm Themselves Against Pirates as Piracy Escalates
NYC parolee accused of killing 2 in 48-hour robbery spree hauled in after manhunt, cops say
Seneca Nation leader calls Trump’s Lake America renaming ‘unpresidential,’ demands reversal
Video: Parent Trips Youth Football Player Who Was Headed for a Touchdown
Beer bandits swipe PBR truck hauling 50,000 cans in California, leaving brand pleading for help
Dem House hopeful’s delayed disclosure reveals mystery payments from Soros-linked groups

See also  Enes Kanter Freedom ejected from WNBA game after courtside confrontation with WNBA player

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.”

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.


Iceland votes on resuming EU membership talks as Trump’s push for neighboring Greenland looms over debate
Retired Port Authority officers tell Mamdani, Hochul to stay away from Ground Zero on 9/11
Former California councilman’s corruption unmasked after FBI finds cash buried in backyard
El-Sayed’s Demeaning Usha Vance Comments Set Stage for Major Backfire with Key Demo
Mississippi mayor argues against lowering flag for Dolly Parton after her death
Obama Judge Once Again Orders Postal Service To Defy Trump’s Mail-In Ballot Executive Order
Dems face uphill battle in challenge to Georgia Congressional map under new SCOTUS rules
Fauci’s Gov’t Division Worked Hand in Glove with the CIA: Docs
Abdul El-Sayed peppered with questions on Hasan Piker link, fracture with Jewish Dems at Michigan convention
UN Told Merchant Ships Not to Arm Themselves Against Pirates as Piracy Escalates
NYC parolee accused of killing 2 in 48-hour robbery spree hauled in after manhunt, cops say
Seneca Nation leader calls Trump’s Lake America renaming ‘unpresidential,’ demands reversal
Video: Parent Trips Youth Football Player Who Was Headed for a Touchdown
Beer bandits swipe PBR truck hauling 50,000 cans in California, leaving brand pleading for help
Dem House hopeful’s delayed disclosure reveals mystery payments from Soros-linked groups

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.

See also  At March on Washington, an urgent plea for black voters to turn out in the midterm elections

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.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter