Tougher debate threshold sets off scramble among 2020 Democrats

[left-of-center2012]

The Democratic National Committee’s new criteria to qualify for its third presidential primary debate has stirred frustration among some campaigns, setting off a scramble to find ways to navigate the race this fall.

The DNC announced last week that it would toughen the criteria to get on stage for the third debate in September, requiring that candidates reach at least 2 percent in three polls and round up support from at least 130,000 donors. The new rules have raised concerns among some of the lesser-known candidates, who have struggled to even meet the criteria to participate in the first debates this summer.

Some campaigns have begun discussing a coordinated push to persuade the DNC to tweak the qualifying requirements for the third debate, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Other Democrats, however, have praised the tougher requirements for the later debates, saying that the DNC has a responsibility to gradually raise the stakes for campaigns. Charles Chamberlain, the chairman of the liberal political action committee Democracy for America, said that the new rules push candidates to build out the kind of grass-roots campaigns that Democrats need to defeat President Trump in 2020.

The ones who “haven’t done what they need to do” would inevitably be weeded out of the race, he said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/447500-tougher-debate-threshold-sets-off-scramble-among-2020-democrats

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

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