The Democratic National Committee has agreed to officially recognize more debates after enduring months of criticism over a light Democratic debate schedule critics said appeared intended to assist Hillary Clinton.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, “Our Democratic candidates have agreed in principle to having the DNC sanction and manage additional debates in our primary schedule, inclusive of New Hampshire this week. However, absent agreement on the details, we will give our campaigns the space to focus on the important work of engaging caucus goers in Iowa. We will reconvene negotiations and finalize the schedule with the agreement of our campaigns on Tuesday morning.”
“Any additional debates will be held on top of our existing February 11th debate with PBS News Hour and our March 9th debate with Univision and the Washington Post,” Wasserman Schulz continued.
The Florida Democrat also continued to defend the DNC’s debate planning. She cast the revised debate schedule as consistent with past party efforts.
“We have consistently worked with our campaigns to ensure a schedule that is both robust and allows our candidates to engage with voters in a variety of ways, whether through debates, forums, or town halls, while also leaving them the flexibility to attend county fairs and living room conversations for the direct voter contact that matters so much in the early states.,” she said. “Those principles will continue to guide these negotiations.”
