DNC shields Clinton from debate stage
This is an election, not a coronation
After the first GOP debate, Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz disingenuously quipped, “I sort of feel for my counterpart Reince Priebus because it’s pretty clear why (Republicans) did everything they could to shrink the number of debates.”
You know who else shrunk the number of debates? Democrats. Wasserman Schultz seems to be telling us why: Hillary Clinton can’t handle the exposure.
The Republican Party is on track to hold twice as many debates as the Democratic Party. The GOP scheduled eight debates, with three pending. The Democrats will face off only six times, compared with 27 in 2008.
Though the GOP has already held its first debate, with another next month, the Democratic candidates won’t gather until October. Ripping a page out of the Republican playbook, the Democratic Party will punish candidates who participate in debates not sanctioned by the DNC.
Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have complained loudly. “We need serious debate about serious issues,” Sanders told CBS News. “There’re so many major problems facing our country. I think more debates is better.” As the candidate drawing crowds in the tens of thousands, it would seem his opinion is worth considering.
But party insiders are making sure their preferred candidate — Hillary Clinton — is protected. “It’s all about trying to preordain the outcome,” O’Malley told The
Hill. “If (Democratic Party leaders) could actually (hold) the Iowa caucuses ... tomorrow, they’d like to do that. Then there’d be no campaign at all.”
O’Malley asserted that the Clintons were flexing their muscles as “the most colossal, prolific fundraising couple in the history of representative democracies.” The former Maryland governor calls it “a grave mistake.”
Democratic voters agree: In an April Bloomberg Poll, nearly three-quarters of Democrats and independents said it would be good for the Democratic Party for Clinton to face a “serious” challenger. Instead, we have party officials and a front-runner stacking the deck.
This scheme by Clinton’s DNC cronies is poised to backfire. While Democratic voters still favor Clinton in national polls, the margin is shrinking. Her arrogant and secretive email server shenanigans are reminding Americans of Clinton’s entitled and unaccountable past. Refusing to debate her primary opponents, including one who has ignited excitement Clinton could only dream of, just fuels the sense she won’t play by the same rules.
At some point, party officials might realize she’s a terrible candidate who needs sharpening before battling the GOP nominee. It’s sad that self-interest might be the only motivator for Democratic Party officials to behave in a more democratic manner, but if that’s the only way, we’ll take it.