Debbie Wasserman Schultz has doubled down on her six debate rule in a press availability this morning.
Via Politico:
Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz dug in Thursday and said her party would stick to the six currently scheduled Democratic primary debates, one day after two vice chairs from within her organization broke ranks and called such a strict limit a “mistake.”
“We’re going to have six debates,” Wasserman Schultz told reporters flatly at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. “Period.”
“This was a decision that I reached that, absolutely, I consulted and communicated with many people, including our officers, and decided that this was the best way to approach it,” she said. “I will make decisions that will make some people happy, some people not happy,” she added.
More from
The Hill:
“We’re not changing the process. We’re having six debates,” she said. “The candidates will be uninvited from subsequent debates if they accept an invitation to anything outside of the six sanctioned debates.”
In recent weeks, pressure has been building on the DNC to grow the debate schedule. The national party has sanctioned six debates, a dramatic cutback from 2008, when there were about two-dozen.
She defended the schedule, saying six debates offered plenty of opportunity for the candidates to distinguish themselves, and that too many debates would be a burden on the candidates, pulling them off the campaign trail and eating up valuable resources and time.
Regarding the exclusivity clause, Wasserman Schultz said it was to ensure the “debate process doesn’t get out of control,” citing 2008, when the party sanctioned six debates but the candidates participated in about two dozen.
So, Debbie has now doubled-down. Apparently, she is determined to hand this nomination to Hillary and no amount of anger from the DNC, high-ranking Democrats or activists will change her mind.
Updated to Add: Link to Allow Debate's Phone #s for DNC. Please call and register your request for more debates.