DNC Chair Confronted by Protesters Demanding More Debates

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

24 August 15

t was the final day of the Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), took the stage and made a case for the Democratic field of candidates. She was confronted by protesters, supporters of at least one of those candidates, shouting for more debates.

Two of the five Democratic candidates for president, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders, have been very vocal in calling for more than the six debates sanctioned by the DNC. In 2007 there were 26 debates, nine before the end of August.

As Wasserman Schultz stated in the interview below, the number of DNC-sanctioned debates is consistent with the past. In 2007 the party also sanctioned six debates. However what is different this time around is that to participate in those six debates, candidates are banned from participating in any other debates. The O’Malley campaign thinks the rule is not only wrong but illegal.

O’Malley’s attorney, Joe Sandler, says the DNC’s debate plan is “entirely unprecedented” and “legally problematic” and that the exclusivity clause is “legally unenforceable.” According to Sandler, “Under Federal Election Commission rules, the format and structure of each debate must be controlled exclusively by the debate sponsor, not by any party or candidate committee.”

“Legally the DNC cannot dictate the format or structure of any debate sponsored by a media outlet or 501(c)(3) organization – including the criteria for participation,” Sandler added. “It would be legally problematic if any of the sponsors of the sanctioned debates has actually agreed to the ‘exclusivity’ requirement. And in any event, it is highly unlikely that any of those sponsors of the sanctioned debates would ultimately be willing to enforce that ‘exclusivity’ requirement,” Sandler told MSNBC, according to News Busters.

Wasserman Schultz said the reason for the late start to the debates is that the DNC has been trying to wait until the voters start paying attention. It could be argued that the voters have already tuned in – just look at the ratings for the first Republican debate.

Martin O’Malley says that having just six debates really helps the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. “It’s all about trying to pre-ordain the outcome, circle the wagons and close off debate,” he told The Hill. “If they could actually accelerate the date of the Iowa caucuses and hold them tomorrow – they’d like to do that. Then there’d be no campaign at all. That’s what they’d really like.”

On Meet the Press, Bernie Sanders stopped short of blaming the Clinton campaign, but did make the case for more debates. “At a time when so many people in our country are giving up on the political process and the turnout is so low, when public consciousness about government is not high, I would like to see us be debating all over this country,” said Sanders. “I’d like to see the DNC have more debates. I would like to see labor union groups. I would like to see environmental groups, women’s groups, gay groups … different constituencies, host events and have us debate. So I believe the more debates, the better.”

“What’s more important to me is I think in this country today, we need serious debate about serious issues,” Sanders added. “There’re so many major problems facing our country. I think more debates is better. And I think having different organizations sponsor debates outside of the DNC makes a lot of sense to me.”

The DNC is holding a meeting in Minneapolis this week. I will attempt to finish asking the question I started to ask in the video below. Will the DNC enforce the rule that bans a candidate from participating in the sanctioned debates if they participate in an unsanctioned debate? That is the real difference this time around, and by the way, the DNC stole this undemocratic rule from the RNC playbook. They announced the same rule in January.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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