With primary's first winnowing at hand, candidates face tough choice:

[mia]

...Drop out or continue on ‘fool’s errand’

After the first two Democratic debates, Rep. Tim Ryan’s audiences grew from two or three people to 20. Former congressman John Delaney noticed an uptick in people approaching him in airports: “They grab my shoulder and say, ‘Hang in there. Your message is what we need to hear.’ ”

But now those low-polling candidates, and at least six others, are facing banishment from the prime-time glow of a national audience. The party’s rules for the next faceoff, on Sept. 12 and 13, will cut off any candidate who can’t score at least 2 percent in four approved polls and attract 130,000 donors.

That means the first real winnowing of this historically large field is at hand. About half the current candidates could be tossed off the debate stage and see their profiles sharply downgraded within days — a change likely to be cheered by many Democratic voters, who often say they find the sprawling field overwhelming.

It also presents those candidates with a tough choice as the Aug. 28 deadline to qualify approaches. Do they gracefully bow out of the presidential race, hoping to preserve goodwill and maybe a chance at higher office? Or do they become “zombie” candidates, staying alive long after the viability of their presidential dreams has ended?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-primarys-first-winnowing-at-hand-candidates-face-tough-choice-drop-out-or-continue-on-fools-errand/2019/08/22/a1f5f690-c387-11e9-b5e4-54aa56d5b7ce_story.html

[thesquanderer]

1. except that it will be EASIER to qualify for the next debate, even if they didn't make this one,

which could provide further motivation to stay in.

(Sorry if that was covered in the full article, I couldn't see it behind the paywall.)