Bloomberg View editorial board:
Before setting the eligibility criteria for the debates, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz pledged to strive for "maximum inclusion." True to her word, the party set a how-low-can-you-go threshold for participation of at least 1 percent in three national polls.
That seemed tailor-made for the party's three dark horses challenging front-runners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders: Lincoln Chafee, Martin O'Malley and Jim Webb. All met it, though just barely: Each is averaging less than 1 percent, and Chafee may have received a boost from Conan O'Brien's "Let's Get Lincoln Chafee To 1%" campaign.
Lessig, a Harvard law professor, has only recently been included in the national polls, and he hit 1 percent in only one. And so, even though he's within the margin of error, he's out.
Lessig may be a gadfly, but he has a base of support. In just one month, he's raised more than $1 million from 8,000 donors. Compare that with Chafee, who brought in $29,000 over the first six months of the year. Lessig has raised enough money to qualify for public matching funds -- and if the public is going to pay for his campaign, the public ought to be able to see him on the stage.
Lessig has one other qualification going for him: Unlike Sanders, he's actually a Democrat. And no matter how far-fetched his candidacy is, he's right to demand his party take a more democratic approach to the debates.
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