The pressure is increasing on Debbie Wasserman-Schultz for more debates.
From NYT:
Two vice chairs of the Democratic National Committee are publicly calling on the party to increase the number of presidential debates, adding high-profile voices to efforts to change the process.
Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and R.T. Rybak, a former mayor of Minneapolis, released a joint statement late on Wednesday urging the party committee to remove the restrictions that were put in place to prevent presidential candidates from taking part in unsanctioned debates. The schedule has been criticized by Martin O’Malley, a candidate and former governor of Maryland, as too restrictive, and by some Democrats as being too favorable to Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Full Statement from Gabbard and Rybak:
Why DNC Vice-Chairs Tulsi Gabbard and R.T. Rybak believe we should have more debates:
We believe that the DNC’s decision to limit Presidential candidates to six debates, with a threat of exclusion for any candidate who participates in any non-DNC sanctioned debate, is a mistake. It limits the ability of the American people to benefit from a strong, transparent, vigorous debate between our Presidential candidates, as they make the important decision of who will be our Democratic Presidential nominee.
As vice chairs of the Democratic National Committee, we are calling for several more debates than the six currently scheduled, and withdrawing the proposed sanctions against candidates who choose to participate in non-DNC sanctioned debates. We also encourage the DNC to consider additional ways to jointly showcase our candidates across the country.
We are the party that represents democratic principles, openness and transparency, and ensuring that all people, regardless of who they are or where they are from, have a level playing field and equal opportunity.
By limiting Democratic debates to just six, more people will feel excluded from our political process, rather than included. As Democrats, we believe the more people are engaged in the process and the exchange of ideas, the better off we are as a nation.
- Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard & R.T. Rybak
Additional Pressure from New Hampshire Party Leaders/Activists:
WE — NEW Hampshire Democrats supportive of an open and democratic debate process that transcends our loyalty to any one presidential primary candidate — respectfully urge the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to remove the penalty for candidates who would participate in more than the six DNC-sanctioned debates.
This unjust rule, and the harsh punishment it embodies, is putting a chill on fundamental freedoms of political speech and a free press. Many of us have heard directly from media outlets here in New Hampshire and beyond that the DNC’s rule casts a long shadow and has stifled would-be conveners of debate amongst press and educational organizations in the Granite State.
Our Democratic Party — the party of human rights and human dignity — must no longer stay silent against the headwinds of a boundless demagoguery not seen for a generation. To the contrary, we must present a clear and compelling vision for moving the country forward. We must present it now. Simply put, the DNC’s plan to forbid candidates who participate in more than the six sanctioned debates from participating in the DNC debates is an unacceptable violation of our party’s commitment to a value fundamental to our democracy: open political speech.
Sen. Martha Fuller Clark is a Democrat from Portsmouth. Sen. Lou D’Allesandro is a Democrat from Manchester. This letter is also signed by: Sen. Andrew Hosmer, D-Laconia; Dan Calegari; Peter Burling; Dudley Dudley; John Rauh; Mary Rauh; Dr. Bill Siroty; Dean Barker; Rachel Hampe; Elizabeth Campbell; and Jay Surdukowski. - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/...
Head of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO wants more debates.
Iowa Democratic Leaders say debate schedule suggest Hillary favoritism in USAToday:
Leaders from Democratic Party organizations across Iowa on Wednesday called on the Democratic National Committee to allow additional presidential debates ahead of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses Feb. 1.
Speaking on a conference call with reporters sponsored by an advocacy group calling itself Allow Debate, four county chairpersons argued that additional debates would help candidates, voters and the Democratic Party.
“Local Democrats here want to see our candidates address the issues that are likely to confront the next president not just in soundbites or press releases or other things that they generate, but in a thorough, rigorous debate format,” said Kurt Meyer, the Democratic Party chairman for Mitchell County and the Tri-County Democrats organization in northeast Iowa. “These debates would give voters a chance to size up the candidates, and I think more debates will lead to more informed and engaged voters.”
Debbie is set to meet with the media at 9 am tomorrow. Any chance she changes debate rules?