O'Malley, Sanders Believe DNC 'Rigged' Debate Process to Help Hillary Win Democratic Nomination
Democratic presidential candidates Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders believe that the Democratic party leadership has created a debate schedule that is "rigged" to help Democratic frontrunner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton win the party's nomination.
While making a speech at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting in Minneapolis last Friday, O'Malley, the 52-year-old former Maryland governor and former Baltimore mayor, lambasted party leadership in front of DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., for scheduling "four debates and four debates only" before the Iowa Caucuses on Feb. 1 of next year.
Although the DNC has scheduled six official debates total during the 2016 primary election season, the same amount that the party scheduled in 2004 and 2008, the party has cracked down on unofficial debates. According to the Wall Street Journal, there were 10 unofficial Democratic debates before the Iowa Caucuses in 2008, but the 2016 Democratic candidates have yet to participate in a single debate.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
As Clinton leads in a Real Clear Politics average of four national Democratic nomination polls with 47.8 percent of the vote, political analysts agree that frontrunners have the most to lose in presidential debates because challengers often attack them and have the ability to gain national notoriety.
While the Fox News Republican presidential debate in early August received over 20 million viewers and was loaded with tons of conservative rhetoric bashing President Barack Obama and Democratic goals, O'Malley charged that party's limited debate schedule not only aims to silence Democratic candidates' responses to GOP assertions but also aims to limit much needed debate between Democratic candidates.
"Think about it. The Republicans stand before the nation, they malign our president's record of achievements, they denigrate women and immigrant families, they double down on trickle-down, and tell their false story," O'Malley said. "And we respond with crickets, tumbleweeds and a cynical move to delay and limit our own party debates."
"Is this how the Democratic Party selects its nominee, or are we becoming something else, something less?" O'Malley continued. "We are the Democratic Party, not the Undemocratic Party."
O'Malley, who averages 1.5 percent of the vote in the Real Clear Politics national Democratic polling average, added that this type of limited debate schedule is "unprecedented" in the party's history.
"This sort of rigged process has never been attempted before," O'Malley asserted. "Whose decree is it exactly? Where did it come from? To what end? For what purpose? What national or party interest does this decree serve? How does this help us tell the story of the last eight years of Democratic progress?"
Although O'Malley never specifically mentioned Clinton's name during his speech, New York Times reports that he was asked by a reporter after his speech if he thought the debate schedule was arranged for Clinton's advantage.
"Yes, I think so. Don't you?" O'Malley replied.
Although O'Malley and his campaign have been critical of the debate schedule since it was released in early August, O'Malley's Friday speech showed that he isn't afraid to make his gripes with the party be known in the presence of the party leadership.
Following O'Malley's speech, Sanders, a self-identified Democratic socialist and Senator from Vermont who also attended the meeting, was asked by a reporter if he agrees with O'Malley's assertion that the Democratic debate process is "rigged."
Washington Post correspondent Philip Rucker tweeted that Sanders responded by saying, "I do."
Although Sanders is reportedly gaining ground on Clinton in the polls, he is still trailing Clinton by over 20 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics national polling average as he has only amassed 26.3 percent of the vote.
The Democratic party's first debate is scheduled for Oct. 13 in Nevada and will be hosted by CNN. The party's other five debates will be held in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin.
"What they're proposing does not give you, the voters, ample opportunity to hear from the Democratic candidates for president," O'Malley said in a statement.
