2020 Democrats slam party rule change that could let Bloomberg debate

Bloomberg, 77, was not eligible for other debate stages because the former New York mayor and ultrabillionaire is self-funding his presidential bid and not accepting campaign contributions, making it impossible for him to meet the DNC’s 225,000 individual donor threshold for the stage.

On Friday, the DNC announced a system for the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas based entirely on delegate allocation from the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses and Nov. 11 New Hampshire primary and polling thresholds, giving him a chance to make the stage.

“Billionaire Bloomberg just bought the @DNC,” tweeted Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

“Democrats should not be connecting the ability to be heard to money. Period,” said Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who dropped out of the presidential race in December. “DNC did that in setting debate requirements & in removing them. You link money & politics, process gets corrupted. Dems should be rejecting money’s influence, not letting it guide our primary.”

Last year, lower-tier candidates criticized the minimum donor threshold, arguing that it forced campaigns to spend great gobs of money soliciting small first-time donors rather than building a grassroots infrastructure in early voting states. Some spent as much as $75 to earn a $1 donation.

As increasing debate metrics started to force candidates off the stage and out of the race, many blamed the DNC for creating a system that left an all-white group of candidates despite a historic racial diversity in the field.

“When @CoryBooker led an effort to change the debate thresholds, the DNC refused — saying they couldn’t benefit any candidate,” former Housing Secretary and former 2020 contender Julian Castro said in a tweet. “It seems the only candidate they’re willing to benefit is a billionaire who’s buying his way into the race. Total mess.”

The former campaign manager for recent drop-out New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker indicated frustration with the change in debate rules and tweeted that the grassroots fundraising thresholds had crippled the campaign.

“I have been asked what the most significant day of the campaign was and that is hard to do without more perspective than I have rn. But on the list, without question, is May 29, 2019 — when the donor threshold was raised to 130k,” he said.

Multiple high-ranking officials for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also criticized the change, with one calling it “the definition of a rigged system.”

“Changing the rules now to accommodate Mike Bloomberg and not changing them in the past to ensure a more diverse debate stage is just plain wrong,” said businessman-turned-activist Tom Steyer, who is also a billionaire. “The Democratic Party should be doing everything possible to ensure a diverse field of candidates. Instead, they are changing the rules for a candidate who is ignoring early states voters and grassroots donors.”

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg broke from many of his rivals by declining to criticize the rule change.

“When the initial rules came out that were focused on grassroots fundraising, of course, our campaign was focused on the same thing. Now it sounds like there’s a different focus,” Buttigieg told reporters. “It is important that we have that process where folks have to stand with their competitors and explain why each of us is the best.”

When asked about the rule change, former Vice President Joe Biden subtly pointed out that Bloomberg is not even competing in the first four early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, instead focusing on winning delegates March 3 “Super Tuesday” states and beyond.

“He’s not even on the ballot in Nevada,” Biden said.