Wary of repeating 2016 mistakes, Democrats prepare to shake up 2020 presidential debate plan.
'The Democratic National Committee is close to finalizing a 2020 primary debate plan that would give lesser-known candidates a chance to share the same stage as the party’s front-runners, avoiding the two-tier “kiddie table” approach that divided the Republican field in the last presidential campaign.
Chairman Tom Perez and his team have been meeting for months with 2016 campaign advisers and other stakeholders to find a way to improve the debate process, while accommodating the unusually large class of credible potential candidates, which could number more than 20 by spring.
Perez has made clear to his staff that he would like the field to be presented in a way that initially mixes top-tier candidates with lesser known ones. . .
This time, Perez has promised an election cycle that is “fair in fact and fair in perception.” To further that goal, he and Cahill have spoken privately with campaign advisers for the 2016 campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, who had both complained about the debate schedule last time. . .
“The 2016 debate schedule was an unmitigated disaster for both the candidates and the voters,” Smith said about her talks with party leaders. “The DNC this year deserves credit for working to make this a more transparent and inclusive process.” . .
In the last presidential cycle, the Democratic Party initially sanctioned six debates starting in October 2015, including just four matchups before the Iowa caucuses, two of which were held on Saturday nights. Three debates were added later.
Candidates were allowed to participate in other forums and town hall events, but the party threatened to disinvite from the sanctioned events any candidates who took part in a formal debate outside the party system.'>>>
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wary-of-repeating-2016-mistakes-democrats-prepare-to-shake-up-2020-presidential-debate-plan/2018/12/04/cd50e8c6-f741-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html?
= new reply since forum marked as read
