12 candidates qualify for October Democratic debate

[JaneQPublic]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/464074-12-candidates-qualify-for-october-democratic-debate

Twelve candidates will share the stage during the fourth Democratic presidential debate this month, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced on Wednesday, making it the most crowded single-night debate to date.

To qualify for the debate, the candidates had to amass the support of 130,000 unique donors and register at least 2 percent in four DNC-approved polls by Oct. 1. The debate is set to take place on Oct. 15 at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, just north of Columbus.

Among the 12 candidates to make the cut: former Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.); South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.); Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas); former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro; former tech executive Andrew Yang; billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer; and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).

Biden and Warren will stand next to each other at center stage for the second debate in a row, according to CNN and The New York Times, the two media organizations hosting the fourth debate. On Biden’s side of the stage will be Sanders, Harris, Booker, Steyer and Gabbard. Standing to Warren’s left will be Buttigieg, Yang, O’Rourke, Klobuchar and Castro.

Unlike past debates, which limited the number of candidates on stage at once to 10, the fourth debate will feature all 12 qualifying candidates on a single night.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/464074-12-candidates-qualify-for-october-democratic-debate

[EveHammond13]

1. too many

[JaneQPublic]

2. Yeah, I'd prefer two nights with six each. (nt)

[Tiggeroshii]

6. wayy too many

[ritapria]

3. Wouldn't be better to have two 6 person Debates ?

It would be good for CNN to have two high - rated events as opposed to one....Curious decision on their part

[qazplm135]

4. It would be better IF one of those nights

were just the top 6, but splitting them up, no not better.

I honestly hope the questions are limited to the top 5 or so candidates for the most part...I don't really need Steyer or Gabbard getting equal time with any of the top five.

[Baclava]

5. Will the doctors really allow Bernie to attend this?

Seems awfully soon

[NurseJackie]

7. Hardly a debate. It's going to be more like a pageant.

The "moderators" will speak more words than all the candidates combined. We'll learn nothing new. It's just going to be a contest of who had the best one-liner, and who had the best gotcha, and who flubbed a fact.

That's not a debate. That's a scripted "reality show".

[StevieM]

8. This is ridiculous.

This denies lesser known candidates the opportunity to get their message out and to win over voters.

If Bernie and his ardent supporters want to see what an unfair debate system really looks like, this is it. For all of his complaining about 2016, he never faced this kind of injustice.

Then again, it was Lawrence Lessig who got screwed in the 2016 debates, not Bernie. He was never even allowed on stage.