The Democratic National Committee has scheduled its first March debate for the evening of the 15th. That’s a Sunday, and it’s likely another intentional entry in a pattern indicating that it doesn’t want you watching its debates this year, just as much as it didn’t want you to watch them in 2016.
Thanks to Russian hackers and the DNC’s abysmal cybersecurity, we now know what everyone suspected at the time of the 2016 Democratic primary. The DNC wanted a coronation for Hillary Clinton, so it prevented Bernie Sanders from gaining debate viewership by both limiting the number of debates and repeatedly scheduling them on weekends. The party is doing the same thing now, but the motives are less obvious. It’s not because the establishment has coalesced around a surging candidate — perhaps it’s because it’s in a bind in choosing any of them.
A septuagenarian socialist now leads the primary pack, followed by the rapidly falling septuagenarian ex-vice president and the rapidly ascending septuagenarian billionaire. The next three debate-qualifying contenders are the lady who lied about being Native American, the former mayor of the 306th largest city in the country, and the senator who cannot crack double digits, yet repeatedly and effortlessly wins in a swing state that Clinton won by a single point.
Does that sound like the best of the best, the winning result of a field winnowed down for nearly a year? Or does that sound like a dream conjured up by Brad Parscale in the penthouse of Trump Tower?
The DNC succeeded in suppressing viewership in 2016, and it did it again at the last debate on the night of Friday, Feb. 7, which earned fewer than 8 million viewers despite airing on network television (ABC). The network garnered nearly twice as many viewers during its September debate.
The Democrats don’t really want you to watch the debate — not because the party bosses want to protect a favorite, but because they can’t pick at all.
