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.
CNN Finally Shows Up at Minneapolis Day Care, But for All the Wrong Reasons
Why the Times Square Ball Will Drop Twice This Year for the First Time Ever
San Francisco mayor quietly signs reparations fund that could lead to $5M payments per person
Boebert hits back at Trump after veto of Colorado water bill, raises retaliation concerns
Unseen Walmart video shows Bryan Kohberger acting differently after Idaho student murders
Comer, House Oversight demand answers in Minnesota fraud hearing, call on Walz to testify
Trump Admin Rolls Out Big Beautiful Bill’s Health Savings Accounts That Lower Taxable Income, Earn Interest
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tells Border Patrol official his ‘day of reckoning is fast approaching’
Lauren Boebert Lashes Out at Trump After He Vetoes Her Bill
Kohberger plea, Cincinnati beating, Read verdict fuel 2025’s most viral, controversial moments
Congress fails to save Obamacare subsidies after shutdown fight, premiums set to surge
Former GOP Sen Jon Kyl announces dementia diagnosis, steps away from public life
Mamdani picks educator who worked to dismantle Gifted & Talented program as NYC schools chancellor
Former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell dead at 92
Democrat Renee Hardman wins Iowa Senate special election, denying GOP supermajority
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.
CNN Finally Shows Up at Minneapolis Day Care, But for All the Wrong Reasons
Why the Times Square Ball Will Drop Twice This Year for the First Time Ever
San Francisco mayor quietly signs reparations fund that could lead to $5M payments per person
Boebert hits back at Trump after veto of Colorado water bill, raises retaliation concerns
Unseen Walmart video shows Bryan Kohberger acting differently after Idaho student murders
Comer, House Oversight demand answers in Minnesota fraud hearing, call on Walz to testify
Trump Admin Rolls Out Big Beautiful Bill’s Health Savings Accounts That Lower Taxable Income, Earn Interest
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tells Border Patrol official his ‘day of reckoning is fast approaching’
Lauren Boebert Lashes Out at Trump After He Vetoes Her Bill
Kohberger plea, Cincinnati beating, Read verdict fuel 2025’s most viral, controversial moments
Congress fails to save Obamacare subsidies after shutdown fight, premiums set to surge
Former GOP Sen Jon Kyl announces dementia diagnosis, steps away from public life
Mamdani picks educator who worked to dismantle Gifted & Talented program as NYC schools chancellor
Former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell dead at 92
Democrat Renee Hardman wins Iowa Senate special election, denying GOP supermajority
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.
