Only 8 Candidates Have Qualified for the Next Democratic Debate

[real Cannabis calm]

Only 8 Candidates Have Qualified for the Next Democratic Debate
By Maggie Astor

The Democratic National Committee has set stricter criteria for the third set of debates, which will be held on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 in Houston. If 10 or fewer candidates qualify, the debate will take place on only one night.

Candidates will need to have 130,000 unique donors and register at least 2 percent support in four polls. They have until Aug. 28 to reach those benchmarks.

These criteria could easily halve the field: The first two sets of debates included 20 of the 24 candidates, but a New York Times analysis of polls and donor numbers shows that only 10 to 12 candidates are likely to make the third round.

Eight candidates have already met both qualification thresholds and are guaranteed a spot on stage. They are:

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey

Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.

Senator Kamala Harris of California

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

Former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

Two other candidates are very close: The former housing secretary Julián Castro and the entrepreneur Andrew Yang have surpassed 130,000 donations and each have three of the four qualifying polls they need.

Beyond them, only three candidates have even a single qualifying poll to their name: the impeachment activist Tom Steyer (2 polls), Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii (1) and former Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado (1). https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/us/politics/next-democratic-debate.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Good. Now there can be a debate in which we might actually learn something,

instead of a feeding frenzy chummed by incompetent moderators for the delectation of the fans at the colosseum.

[DownriverDem]

7. 10 or less

Now it can be done on one night. Attacking each other is not a good election plan either.

[customerserviceguy]

13. I don't mind the two nights setup

If we were down to ten, and had two nights of five apiece, everyone would have a chance to get their say in.

[hlthe2b]

2. I'm glad to see both Beto and Klobuchar made it. The rest I expected had.

I know it is unlikely we'll stop at 10, but at least if there are more, there will be less on each day of the debate than now.

[FBaggins]

3. My preference would be to get down to a single night of debate as soon as possible

Some of the clash is artificial because there seems to be an agreement (don't know if it's explicit) that they don't talk about the candidates in the other night's participants.

[Horizens]

4. Undecided But

I really want to see Inslee in the debate. I sent him a contribution but things aren't looking good re the polls.

[W_HAMILTON]

5. I didn't realize that Steyer was that close to making it via polls

If he gets another qualifying poll -- which would put him only one away -- I will send a small donation to his campaign to help him make the individual donor requirement. I think his strong pro-impeachment and anti-Trump stance would be a welcome addition to the debate stage.

[left-of-center2012]

6. I sent Steyer $1 today

That's all one need send to count toward getting him in.

[DownriverDem]

8. Too many running

Don't need any more.

[left-of-center2012]

9. We need good candidates

[SansACause]

10. That's still too many.

Would be good to get it down to five.

[jcgoldie]

11. We could stop there

Would be a good debate. I wouldnt mind seeing Castro and Inslee make it but the rest is just adding static noise to the conversation at this point.

[msongs]

12. castro is running ads looking for cash on facebook today nt

[elocs]

14. "Only 8 Candidates Have Qualified..." Oh if wishing made it so. n/t