Democratic debates: DNC Chair defends rules to get on stage, says they ensure a 'fair shake'

June 03, 2019
Washington

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WASHINGTONÂ â€“ Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez defended the party’s decision to raise the bar on who makes the presidential debate stage this fallÂ following criticism that the rules are arbitrary and exclusive.

Some candidates are questioning the DNC’s decision to require that candidates hit 2% in four qualifying polls and tally at least 130,000 individual donors before they could qualify for debates scheduled for September and October. That’s twice the minimum candidates must meet to get on stage for the first and second rounds of debates, which startÂ later this month.

“Weâ€™ve said this all along, that in the fall weâ€™re going to raise the threshold because thatâ€™s what we always do. You have to demonstrate that youâ€™re making progress. And 2% is hardly a high bar in my judgment,” Perez said Saturday on CNN. “You canâ€™t win the presidency in the modern era if you canâ€™t build relationships with the grassroots.”

Perez said the DNC spoke to “a ton of people” for input before adopting its debate rules.

“What weâ€™ve set up â€¦ isÂ a structure where we want to give everyone a fair shake to communicate their vision to the American people,” Perez said. “The proof is in the pudding. Candidates have done a very good job in the aggregate of reaching the grassroots and I think thatâ€™s going to help us as a party in the long run.”

But not everyone of the roughly two dozen major candidates running for the Democratic nomination is satisfied.

At a campaign stop in New Hampshire this week, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet called the new rules “arbitrary.”

“I don’t thinkÂ they should be winnowing the field, and IÂ certainly don’t think the DNCÂ should be favoring national fundraising and cable television over the early states like New Hampshire,” Bennet told WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H.

Skewered by critics in 2016 for seemingly favoring Hillary Clinton, the DNC also received a letter from presidential candidate John Delaney who questionedÂ how the committee put together the criteria.

“Right now,Â we live in a country where half the people can’t afford basic necessities like their rent, their food, their utilities. I’m running for those people,” the former Maryland congressman told CBS News in an interview Friday. “It doesn’t seem like they’re probably contributing to a lot of political candidates so why is their voice not relevant.”

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The first debate is scheduled to be held over two nights on June 26 and 27 in Miami, and the second round is scheduled for July 30 and 31 in Detroit. To qualify, candidates must registerÂ at least 1% in three polls orÂ receive campaign contributions from at least 65,000 donors.

The campaigns of 12 candidates say they have met both the polling and donor qualifications to take part in the first two rounds of debates.

They are: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep. Beto Oâ€™Rourke, D-Tex., Sen.Â Cory Booker, D-N.J.,Â entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii,Â former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee and activist Marianne Williamson.

Up to 20 Candidates have until June 12 to qualify for the Miami debates. By June 14, Perez said he expects the lineups for the two-day event (10 candidates on each night) will be randomly selected.

Perez told CNNÂ the format will give those polling in the lower half of candidates to have a “breakthrough moment” that can lift them into the fall debates.

“My goal is to make sure that all of those candidates and their supporters feel like they got a fair shake so that next spring when we have our nominee, they can hit the ground running,” he said.

Contributing: Aamer Madhani

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