Common Dreams: For Many Democrats, Six Primary Season Debates 'Is Just Not Enough'

[portlander23]

For Many Democrats, Six Primary Season Debates 'Is Just Not Enough'

While the DNC sanctioned six debates in both 2004 and 2008, candidates were allowed to participate in events hosted by media outlets or universities, without repercussion. According to FiveThirtyEight, candidates ultimately attended 15 debates in 2004 and 25 in 2008.

Led by the nonpartisan and grassroots group Allow Debate, some Democrats are denouncing this year's "exclusivity clause" as "unprecedented and undemocratic"—not to mention politically un-savvy.

"I think every Democratic campaign and the DNC should have to explain why we are ceding the discussion and attention to the Republicans by refusing to the kind of robust debate schedule we've always had," Martin O’Malley's campaign manager Dave Hamrick said in a statement to Politico.

Some have accused DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of limiting the number of debates in an effort to help former Secretary of State and faltering frontrunner Hillary Clinton. "The question remains," Hamrick wrote in the statement to Politico, "if the DNC is still holding to their unprecedented exclusivity clause, are they doing it at the Clinton campaign's request?"

But as Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich wrote on Sunday, such a strategy is likely to backfire.

"I don’t know what Wasserman Schultz's motives may be, but she's not doing Clinton any favors by refusing to consider more debates," Obradovich wrote. "Clinton’s campaign has said she’s open to more debates and she's a seasoned debater. Any perception the DNC is trying to grease the skids for Clinton runs counter to her own efforts to show she intends to earn the nomination, not stage a coronation."

Indeed, said RootsAction co-founder Jeff Cohen, "It really is a shame for a party called 'Democratic' to be sending a message that it wants to shield one candidate from too much democracy."

Allow Debate's petition: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/allowdebate

[HooptieWagon]

1. DNC Debbie doesn't give a shit what us rabble want.

She wants smooth sailing through the Primary for HRH, the elitist candidate.

[840high]

2. ...+1