Martin O'Malley Erupts Over DNC Debate Schedule. What the hell kind of Dem Party is this?

[askew]

Via Buzzfeed:

“And as the Democratic Party, I think it’s a sad state of affairs when the DNC — it tries to insert itself to cut off a Democratic debate,” he said. “We should not be a party that’s afraid to talk about the ideas that will get wages going up again instead of down. We shouldn’t be a party that’s afraid to talk about America’s role in the world and the lessons we’ve learned from these last very hard 14 to 15 years of conflict.”

“We have better solutions for the future than the other party has, and I think we’re making a huge mistake,” he continued. “If we cut off debate, if we tell the people of New Hampshire that we’ve become such an impoverished party that we can only afford one debate before the New Hampshire primary, what the hell kind of Democratic Party is this?”

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, another underdog for the Democratic presidential nomination, also criticized the debate schedule in an interview Sunday.

He does sound frustrated. I hope that doesn't mean that his campaign is getting nowhere with setting up outside debates.

[arcane1]

1. The problem with setting up outside debates is they'll be banned from any future official debates

It's a lame rule, IMO.

[Adrahil]

2. I agree it is....

But it's not like I think Martin is going to be able turn a 3% showing into being a contender with a few more debates. This is gonna be the Hill and Bern show unless Uncle Joe decides to crash the party.

[arcane1]

4. I agree, though I would like to see Martin get more publicity n/t

[daredtowork]

3. Would it be against the rules to

set up an event that debates relative platforms and send proxies to do it? For instance, it could be an event for college debating teams.

[arcane1]

5. Interesting question! I have no idea

I'm going to guess it's not allowed

[aggiesal]

21. So here is what they should do ...

Have outside debate(s) and invite everyone.

I'm sure all the candidates will accept from Bernie on down,
which leaves only Hillary to debate herself when the official debates begin.

How will that look?

[arcane1]

22. I cannot deny having that daydream a few times :)

Personally, I would LOVE it.

[billhicks76]

23. Blame Hillary

She is in cahoots with the Bush Family like she always has been. How about this...BAN any democrat that is part of The Bush Inner Circle. Bye Bill...Bye Hillary.

[glinda]

6. They need some serious rule changes.

[SolutionisSolidarity]

7. O'Malley's right.

Both parties are openly favoring certain candidates, but the Republicans have twice as many debates scheduled as we do. They've already had their first, and ours isn't for 2 months. The Republican Party is acting like a more democratic organization than the Democratic Party, which is deeply embarrassing.

[askew]

8. It really is.

[LibDemAlways]

9. I agree with O'Malley that there

should be more debates, but he's wrong when he asserts that the Dems have "better" solutions for the future than the Repukes. He should have more accurately stated that the Repukes offer nothing at all -- zero, zip, nada-- to benefit 99% of the American population. Only the Democratis are addressing the concerns of the vast majority of Americans. The more debates to drive this home, the better.

[calguy]

10. They could schedule 10 more debates

And O'Malley STILL won't get any traction for his grounded campaign.

[Agschmid]

11. Actually he's more than double his standing in the new polls released today.

Clearly in third, but a "strong" third.

[elleng]

16. Actually his GROUND campaign IS getting traction.

[SusanCalvin]

18. I don't know, but that's not the point.

The point is that the current schedule is beyond ridiculous.

[jalan48]

12. DNC wants to control the message. Not too radical now folks!

[elleng]

17. They want to control the individuals providing the message.

[restorefreedom]

13. we need them sooner, too

right now the repubs are sucking up all the oxygen.

and one of the really bad results of this is that Trump is trying to present a populist message, and a lot of people are buying it. All of the dems are trying to jump on the populist bandwagon to a greater or lesser degree. But if we keep letting trump try to carry the banner without our own group presentation, many antiestablishment people who might be willing to vote dem are going to be sucked up by the trump machine. they're not all birthers and lunatics. Some of them like his anti-establishment populist message and they like the fact that he's not a career politician. They could almost be dems if we could have the dates and get a more national presentation. But Debbie Schultz is too devoted or too incompetent to see what needs to happen for the good of the country.

[TBF]

14. "What the hell kind of Democratic Party is this?”

One that is bought and paid for, Martin. Sorry.

[SusanCalvin]

19. If he didn't already know,

He hasn't been paying attention. Better late than never.

[Peacetrain]

20. We really should have at least 8 debates..

And I would really be happy if they were more thematic in the sense, that the candidates could spend an hour or more just debating how we could deal with one of the many problems that face us.. from the economy..to race.. to the environment .. foreign policy.. not just a question here and there on any given subject..