Who's going to qualify for the Democratic debates?

[The Other Castro]

The requirements from the last debate were that you have a delegate in an early state, not just one delegate from anywhere. That was back when few delegates had been awarded, pre-Super Tuesday. Just one delegate at this point is nothing, and is not enough for someone to be considered a serious candidate. Gabbard on that stage would be a waste of everyone's time, she has no chance of winning.

[brucejoel99]

The requirements from the last debate were that you have a delegate in an early state, not just one delegate from anywhere. That was back when few delegates had been awarded, pre-Super Tuesday. Just one delegate at this point is nothing, and is not enough for someone to be considered a serious candidate. Gabbard on that stage would be a waste of everyone's time, she has no chance of winning.

Not everyone's. I'm sure Bernie Bros will be up in arms when she's excluded on the basis of thinking that they could use her to go after Biden just like she went after Kamala.

But it is a matter of when she's excluded, & not if, considering that the DNC's communications director has already pushed back on the speculation that her delegate will allow her to participate in the next debate:

https://twitter.com/XochitlHinojosa/status/1235009904634728448

So the delegate threshold to qualify for the next debate will indeed go up from the last debate. In other words, bye Tulsi.

[Mr. Morden]

In any case, since it looks increasingly likely that Warren will drop out of the race before the next debate, that raises the probability that the debate on the 15th will be a 2 hour 1-on-1 Biden vs. Sanders debate, with no other candidates participating (since, again, I doubt they'll invite Gabbard).  Will be interesting to see how that plays.

[Tender Branson]

Tulsi Gabbard officially banned by the DNC from the March 15 debate:

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday announced new qualifying standards for the upcoming Arizona debate that will leave only the top two contenders on stage.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) did not meet the single qualifying factor: earning at least 20 percent of the delegates awarded as of March 15.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden are the only candidates who have qualified for the debate, which will be hosted by CNN and Univision on March 15 in Phoenix.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/486348-new-standards-eliminate-tulsi-gabbard-from-next-democratic-debate

https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1236135134543220737

[W]

Tulsi Gabbard officially banned by the DNC from the March 15 debate:

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday announced new qualifying standards for the upcoming Arizona debate that will leave only the top two contenders on stage.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) did not meet the single qualifying factor: earning at least 20 percent of the delegates awarded as of March 15.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden are the only candidates who have qualified for the debate, which will be hosted by CNN and Univision on March 15 in Phoenix.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/486348-new-standards-eliminate-tulsi-gabbard-from-next-democratic-debate

https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1236135134543220737

Hey I'll let you know that if she sweeps all the contests on the 10th + Northern Marianas then I am too lazy to do the math to see if that would get her in for this joke or not!!

[GeneralMacArthur]

In nearly every state on Super Tuesday, Tulsi got demolished by Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, neither of whom was still in the race.  She also lost in most states to the ghost of Tom Steyer.  Some other fun facts:

CA:  She got fewer votes than Andrew Yang, who dropped out over a month ago.

AL:  She got fewer votes than Michael Bennet, who hasn't been on a debate stage since July.  She also tied with Bennet in Tennessee.

NC:  More than 3x as many people chose "Uncommitted" as chose to vote for Tulsi.

TX:  She lost to Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Steyer, Bennet, and Julian Castro, who dropped out two months ago.  She only finished 0.1% ahead of Roque de la Fuente.

She did finish 0.3% ahead of dropped-out Deval Patrick in his home state of Massachusetts, though, so she's got that going for her.

[Orser67]

I think the DNC set the standard a little too high for this debate by requiring 20% of delegates awarded so far. E.g Warren and Bloomberg would be excluded if they were still in the race. I think somewhere in the 5-10% range would be better.

The standards obviously don't matter anymore for this primary cycle (well, unless you're a Gabbard supporter) but I think the DNC should be looking to establish a good precedent for future cycles so that they can minimize the inevitable "rigged" claims.

[Mr. Morden]

Biden and Sanders campaigns clash over whether to stand or sit at the Arizona debate:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-arizona-debate-123467

[brucejoel99]

Biden and Sanders campaigns clash over whether to stand or sit at the Arizona debate:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-arizona-debate-123467

These smear tactics from the Bernie campaign are getting ridiculous.

[Lord Halifax]

Biden and Sanders campaigns clash over whether to stand or sit at the Arizona debate:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-arizona-debate-123467

These smear tactics from the Bernie campaign are getting ridiculous.

Destroying Biden in the debate is Sanders last chance and that requires it to be a duel, a relentless string of verbal jabs and confrontations, not an armchair conversation broken up with audience questions.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Biden and Sanders campaigns clash over whether to stand or sit at the Arizona debate:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-arizona-debate-123467

These smear tactics from the Bernie campaign are getting ridiculous.

Destroying Biden in the debate is Sanders last chance and that requires it to be a duel, a relentless string of verbal jabs and confrontations, not an armchair conversation broken up with audience questions.

Well, it's pretty clear why CNN went with the latter then. It's really a mistake to let the corporate media run these debates.

[Mr. Morden]

In any case, barring any changes, here's what's on tab for that debate (from the Politico link):

The new format would be a town hall-style production featuring audience questions but in a more intimate setting with the candidates in chairs behind desks — similar to the way Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were seated in a few 2008 debates.

“After 10 debates, the DNC worked with its network partners to adapt the March debate to the smaller field of candidates and to give voters more of a voice. This format provides candidates longer response times, and for the first time, will incorporate questions from undecided voters in the audience,” DNC spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said.

[brucejoel99]

Biden and Sanders campaigns clash over whether to stand or sit at the Arizona debate:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-arizona-debate-123467

These smear tactics from the Bernie campaign are getting ridiculous.

Destroying Biden in the debate is Sanders last chance and that requires it to be a duel, a relentless string of verbal jabs and confrontations, not an armchair conversation broken up with audience questions.

Well, it's pretty clear why CNN went with the latter then. It's really a mistake to let the corporate media run these debates.

Oh no, longer response times & letting voters ask questions instead of moderators!? The horror!!!

[IceSpear]

TX:  She lost to Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Steyer, Bennet, and Julian Castro, who dropped out two months ago.  She only finished 0.1% ahead of Roque de la Fuente.

Clearly the DNC is engaging in a rigged conspiracy to keep de la Fuente off the debate stage. What is the DNC afraid of?

[GeneralMacArthur]

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

[Bidenworth2020]

Wow, I am losing respect for Bernie at a rapid pace here. Truly embarrassing and disgusting stuff.

[Lord Halifax]

I should add that it's a dire sign that the Sanders campaign is raising this as a concern. The people running that show must be suicidal.

Why does Joe Biden not want to stand toe-to-toe with Sen. Sanders on the debate stage March 15 and have an opportunity to defend his record and articulate his vision for the future?” asked Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ senior adviser.

This stuff is disgusting.

I don't get it. Why do you find it disgusting? And why would it be "suicidal"?

Sanders needs a more confrontational setup to win (big enough to matter), the armchair and softball questions from the audience format helps Biden. It's a legitimate criticism.

[John Dule]

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The post so nice it was posted twice.

Also, what the heck is so wrong with that quote from the Sanders campaign?

[Mr. Smith]

I should add that it's a dire sign that the Sanders campaign is raising this as a concern. The people running that show must be suicidal.

Why does Joe Biden not want to stand toe-to-toe with Sen. Sanders on the debate stage March 15 and have an opportunity to defend his record and articulate his vision for the future?” asked Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ senior adviser.

This stuff is disgusting.

Just desperate really. But hardly without some merit all the same.

[John Dule]

I don't get it. Why do you find it disgusting? And why would it be "suicidal"?

Sanders needs a more confrontational setup to win (big enough to matter), the armchair and softball questions from the audience format helps Biden. It's a legitimate criticism.

Also, what the heck is so wrong with that quote from the Sanders campaign?

If Biden's mind is falling apart, as the Sanders campaign implies, it should not matter whether they sit or stand, nor where the questions come from.

Biden is winning at the eleventh hour despite what voters can plainly see about him. That is in part because the  alternative is a year older and dealing with a chronic health concern of his own (one that is visible in his physique, even). Most voters who worry about selecting a nominee in good health will be just as concerned about nominating Sanders.

Moreover, even if all of this is good political strategy, it undermines a quality that I always appreciated in him. At the risk of self-mockery, I say that this is not the Bernie Sanders about whom Pete Buttigieg wrote an award-winning essay.

And I will be honest: I'm fed up with this campaign. On top of everything, we're staring at a recession and a pandemic that will kill thousands and maybe order of magnitudes more in this country. If the people running the Sanders campaign can't focus on that, I just want them to go away.

What on Earth are you talking about? Where does that statement imply that Biden is falling apart mentally?

[GeneralMacArthur]

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The post so nice it was posted twice.

Also, what the heck is so wrong with that quote from the Sanders campaign?

Oops, this site is buggy sometimes.

The problem is that a lot of really terrible Rose Twitter people, along with Trump team, have been working together on Twitter to push this idea that Biden is dying or sundowning.  This is exactly the kind of thing that Bernie and his campaign have been pretending to disown.  Oh, the horror!  We've never seen any of this behavior, bit if it does exist, I condemn it!

Except then they turn around and pull something like this, implying with zero subtlety that Biden's so sick that he can't even stand for the debate.

It's obvious that they're playing along with the smear campaign.  A campaign being run by the very people they're pretending to distance themselves from, and the F***ING TRUMP CAMPAIGN.

This is EXACTLY the kind of dog-whistling crap he pulled last time.  And it is disgusting.

[John Dule]

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The post so nice it was posted twice.

Also, what the heck is so wrong with that quote from the Sanders campaign?

Oops, this site is buggy sometimes.

The problem is that a lot of really terrible Rose Twitter people, along with Trump team, have been working together on Twitter to push this idea that Biden is dying or sundowning.  This is exactly the kind of thing that Bernie and his campaign have been pretending to disown.  Oh, the horror!  We've never seen any of this behavior, bit if it does exist, I condemn it!

Except then they turn around and pull something like this, implying with zero subtlety that Biden's so sick that he can't even stand for the debate.

It's obvious that they're playing along with the smear campaign.  A campaign being run by the very people they're pretending to distance themselves from, and the F***ING TRUMP CAMPAIGN.

This is EXACTLY the kind of dog-whistling crap he pulled last time.  And it is disgusting.

Oh knock it off MacArthur. Nothing in that quote implied that Biden was losing his mind. You are reading into it what you want to see.

[GeneralMacArthur]

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The post so nice it was posted twice.

Also, what the heck is so wrong with that quote from the Sanders campaign?

Oops, this site is buggy sometimes.

The problem is that a lot of really terrible Rose Twitter people, along with Trump team, have been working together on Twitter to push this idea that Biden is dying or sundowning.  This is exactly the kind of thing that Bernie and his campaign have been pretending to disown.  Oh, the horror!  We've never seen any of this behavior, bit if it does exist, I condemn it!

Except then they turn around and pull something like this, implying with zero subtlety that Biden's so sick that he can't even stand for the debate.

It's obvious that they're playing along with the smear campaign.  A campaign being run by the very people they're pretending to distance themselves from, and the F***ING TRUMP CAMPAIGN.

This is EXACTLY the kind of dog-whistling crap he pulled last time.  And it is disgusting.

Oh knock it off MacArthur. Nothing in that quote implied that Biden was losing his mind. You are reading into it what you want to see.

No.  Not OK.  The entire point of the attack is to imply that Biden isn't physically capable of standing.  It doesn't make any sense to attack him for standing instead of sitting otherwise.

It's dovetailing right into the narrative being pushed by the Trump campaign that Biden is physically weak and decaying.  Which is the same narrative they pushed about Clinton in 2016, courtesy of Russia.  And the same narrative that Russia has pushed about other enemy politicians in other countries.

If it were less obvious, I might be inclined to call it a coincidence, but no.  Because we've seen this again and again and again and again from the Sanders campaign.  These dogwhistles to narratives and conspiracy theories being pushed by Trump or Rose Twitter or Russia about his opponents and the Democratic Party.  But you don't even have to agree with me on that to see what's going on here because it's just glaringly, stupidly obvious.

What is the alternative explanation?.  Is the attack supposed to be about something other than Biden's physical health?  Did the Sanders campaign just so happen to start caring about Biden's physical health at the same time that his supporters (whom the campaign totally condemns!) started coordinating with the Trump campaign to push that narrative?

[John Dule]

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The pathetic dying gasps of a campaign that never had integrity in the first place.  True bottom of the barrel stuff.

The post so nice it was posted twice.

Also, what the heck is so wrong with that quote from the Sanders campaign?

Oops, this site is buggy sometimes.

The problem is that a lot of really terrible Rose Twitter people, along with Trump team, have been working together on Twitter to push this idea that Biden is dying or sundowning.  This is exactly the kind of thing that Bernie and his campaign have been pretending to disown.  Oh, the horror!  We've never seen any of this behavior, bit if it does exist, I condemn it!

Except then they turn around and pull something like this, implying with zero subtlety that Biden's so sick that he can't even stand for the debate.

It's obvious that they're playing along with the smear campaign.  A campaign being run by the very people they're pretending to distance themselves from, and the F***ING TRUMP CAMPAIGN.

This is EXACTLY the kind of dog-whistling crap he pulled last time.  And it is disgusting.

Oh knock it off MacArthur. Nothing in that quote implied that Biden was losing his mind. You are reading into it what you want to see.

No.  Not OK.  The entire point of the attack is to imply that Biden isn't physically capable of standing.  It doesn't make any sense to attack him for standing instead of sitting otherwise.

It's dovetailing right into the narrative being pushed by the Trump campaign that Biden is physically weak and decaying.  Which is the same narrative they pushed about Clinton in 2016, courtesy of Russia.  And the same narrative that Russia has pushed about other enemy politicians in other countries.

If it were less obvious, I might be inclined to call it a coincidence, but no.  Because we've seen this again and again and again and again from the Sanders campaign.  These dogwhistles to narratives and conspiracy theories being pushed by Trump or Rose Twitter or Russia about his opponents and the Democratic Party.  But you don't even have to agree with me on that to see what's going on here because it's just glaringly, stupidly obvious.

What is the alternative explanation?.  Is the attack supposed to be about something other than Biden's physical health?  Did the Sanders campaign just so happen to start caring about Biden's physical health at the same time that his supporters (whom the campaign totally condemns!) started coordinating with the Trump campaign to push that narrative?

Say 'sike' right now or I'm actually going to start thinking you've lost your mind.

[7,052,770]

It occurred to me that letting Tulsi debate just because she won a delegate would set a potentially terrible precedent for future years. Only a few hundred people voted in the American Samoa caucus and it would have only taken 53 votes to get a delegate. For less than $10,000, some random nobody could have put up a few billboards, and flown to the island personally a few days before the election to "campaign," maybe even "hiring" a few dozen people as "staffers," ensuring that they at least go vote for him.

In fact, maybe someone should do that there and the other territorial caucuses anyway. Spend a few tens of thousands of dollars, pocket 5-10 delegates, and maybe there's a closely contested convention and you have all kinds of power. Worst case scenario, you get some vacations and your name in the historical footnotes.